A new national conference aimed at tackling Ireland's housing crisis has been launched by Minister for Housing and Urban Renewal, Damien English.

The 'Rebuilding Ireland – Delivering a Sustainable Housing Recovery' event is co-hosted by the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government in partnership with The Royal Institute of the Architects of Ireland (RIAI).

Launching the conference at Dublin Castle, Minister English said this year's two-day event will focus particularly on urban renewal. Overall, the conference brings together a wide range of policymakers, practitioners, architects, planners and other stakeholders to explore key housing issues of the day.

-- Advertisement --

The Rebuilding Ireland initiative is backed by €5.55 billion of funding to increase the supply of social housing by 47,000, double the output of overall housing to at least 25,000 homes per annum by 2021, service all tenure types (social, private and rental), and tackle homelessness comprehensively.

In his address, Minister English said he was pleased with the approach and the progress made to date under Rebuilding Ireland, with plans in place to deliver on at least 25,000 new homes each year by 2021.

He said: "Our commitment of €5.35 billion will go a long way to providing much needed social housing while the provision of a €200m infrastructure fund should unlock the potential of key sites to deliver thousands of homes for the market."

Minister Simon Coveney will attend the conference later today, 14 February, to outline steps being taken now and in future years to bring about a properly functioning housing system that will be responsive to the needs of all Irish citizens.

(LM/MH)