The Deputy is being ridiculous and he is being juvenile. Will he let me answer the question?

Yes, I will. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for trying to put some type of control on the Deputy. A total of 400 affordable rental homes will be delivered this year.

I should be allowed to answer the question. People may be interested in the answer to it. The Deputy may not be and that is fine because what he will always do is try to play politics with a situation. A total of 400 affordable rental homes and a national affordable rental scheme will be launched this year. There will be 400 homes tenanted this year. In the coming couple of weeks, if not in the next week, we will be announcing the specific areas where the homes will be delivered. We have put out the call on that.

It is not just bluster like we get from the Deputy; we have done it.

I will let him in. Absolutely.

I can respond briefly to Deputy Ó Ríordáin. I thank him for his questions and the manner in which he put them, which was in stark contrast to the performance of Deputy Ó Broin, who, unfortunately, has left the Chamber to go to RTÉ now. It shows the respect he has for the Dáil Chamber when he leaves to speak on RTÉ radio at 4.30 p.m.

Deputy Ó Ríordáin asked about the Oscar Traynor development. We are working with the council and with colleagues of Deputy Ó Ríordáin in the Labour Party on revised proposals there, especially around the contribution potentially from the Department. I met the executive straight after that vote. I think it is an important site. It would show considerable progress. There are things we are working on in the affordable housing Bill around the serviced sites fund and how it can be used or perhaps altered and used more a…

It is my intention, with colleagues, to roll out another voids programme for 2021. We brought back in more than 3,600 units in 2020 very successfully. We have allocations for this year, and with the construction shutdown, we may put more into that. The Minister of State, Deputy Burke, will answer on wind energy guidelines. I agree with Deputy O'Sullivan on active land management. The review on certain anomalies surrounding HAP limits is under way. It is not concluded yet. I referred to it during Question Time in th…

Is the Deputy referring to this year or 2022?

There is a commitment in the programme for Government, as the Deputy rightly stated, to a referendum on the right to housing. I see the commission on housing, which we ourselves negotiated during talks on the programme for Government, playing a central role in that. I spoke at a virtual conference just last week about outlining our plans to establish the commission that would look at certain issues, including a legislative right to housing. Mercy Law Resource Centre and others have done incredible work on this but …

That is okay. I thank the Ceann Comhairle. The scheme is still being worked through. We are bringing forward several affordability measures. Approximately €468 million was allocated in budget 2021 in this regard, covering the serviced sites fund, the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme, the help-to-buy scheme, the shared equity scheme and the affordable rental scheme. We will publish the shared equity scheme. The Bill has been published. We will move forward with regulations. I have been bemused by Sinn Féin Deputi…

Sinn Féin Deputies have been trying to interrupt me all afternoon. The Government believes in home ownership and giving young people the chance to own their own homes. We will bring forward a scheme that will work and that is one element of our affordability package. Those who wish to shoot down a scheme before they have even seen it are doing so purely for political reasons.

We are interested in actually------

It seems to be a trait of Sinn Féin Deputies today to just try to shout people down. They have been doing so all day. Deputy Ó Broin did it. Deputy Doherty will probably leave now after doing so. Good luck to him.

I respect the Deputy and the fact that all Deputies wish to play their part in helping those who are homeless and getting them into emergency accommodation when they need it, but some of the charges he has made do a disservice to those who are working in the sector here in Dublin. Let us be straight about this. I gave very clear direction on 7 December and again on 9 December in writing. The Deputy is aware of that. It was not about discretion; it was very clear. I have met the DRHE since the "RTÉ Investigates" pro…

I am trying to be helpful because this is a very serious issue. I am engaging on it every day. If there are any instances, the Deputy needs to bring them to my attention. He has not done so. I ask that he do so. I wonder whether he has picked up the phone to call the outreach teams and bring those instances to their attention. I hope that he has done so. If he has not, I urge him to do so in order that we can deal with it. At the end of the day, we are dealing with people. If a process falls down, we need to fix it…

Since the correspondence was issued on 9 December, I have not received from the Deputy any specific instances where this has occurred. I was made aware of one case last weekend and it was addressed immediately. That was it. I have received nothing since then. I have received nothing from the Deputy. Let us be honest about it. If there are such instances, I am happy to engage with him about them and to deal with specific matters. People are not being turned away from emergency accommodation. If, in a rare instance, …

It is being applied to all providers. We have provided for additional inspectors as well as funding for those inspections to take place. I think the Deputy is aware of that. More inspections need to happen, but the national standards do apply to private hostels as well. I have raised that issue. To clarify what I stated earlier to the Deputy, I am not laying any responsibility on him. The responsibility is mine as Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, but if the Deputy, as spokesperson on housing for…

I will deal with the Deputy's last question first because it is very important. I want the construction sector to fully reopen on 5 March. The reason the construction sector is closed has nothing to do with its operation. Companies in the sector have operated safely, been agile and shown an ability to take on new work practices to keep workers safe and to deliver. The sector is closed simply to reduce the movement of people and I hope it will be fully open again on 5 March. That is my earnest wish. There are some s…

I will bring in the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, on the rural planning guidelines. The Deputy mentioned an instance of damp and in that case, or if a site needs to be secured during the lockdown, those works could take place on an emergency basis. We ask people to use a commonsensical approach to that, as I am sure they will. That would apply in the instance the Deputy mentioned. The Deputy also mentioned funding and the SME sector that is going to be crucial in delivering the housing stock that we need. …