Housing Provision
Dail Éireann — 2026-03-05
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James Browne (FF), Wexford

I do not accept that the new legislation is going to drive up homelessness. We know that notices to quit are the single greatest driver of homelessness. We know that the average tenancy is about 3.6 years. The new six-year tenancies of minimum duration will, I have no doubt, drive that 3.6 years significantly longer and reduce notices to quit, with people coming in and needing housing under new tenancies.
In regard to last year, just over 36,000 new homes were built. Some 25% of those were new-build social homes. That shows the Government is fully committed. Most local authorities are now stepping up to the mark in delivering social homes but we need every local authority stepping up to meet its targets because the funding is there for those local authorities to deliver on those social homes. What we did last year was deliver 9,089 new-build social homes. That is an increase of 1,256 homes, or 16% compared to 2024. This is the highest number of social homes newly built in the history of the State. That shows the Government's commitment to new-build social home delivery.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-03-05/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:44+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-03-05