Tánaiste Simon Harris has said the key to the housing issue is supply and that the Government's success will be seen when it provides 300,000 homes over the next five years.
Simon Harris was speaking at the launch of 133 new cost rental homes in Tallaght in Dublin.
He said local authorities must be able to get through the planning process quickly so they can deliver more social homes.
Asked about successive failures from the Fine Gael/Fianna Fáil governments in terms of housing, he said they were given a mandate and Sinn Féin's housing policy was a fairytale, that "every home in Dublin was going to become around €300,000"; people saw through that.
He said the Government knows that housing is a real emergency and that it is an emergency for everyone involved, including heads of utility companies and the chief executives of all local authorities.
The Tánaiste said the Government has set a "North Star" of a target for housing supply, whihc is 300,000 homes over the next five years and that is what success will look like.
Minister for Housing James Browne said a secretary general for the new Housing Activation Office is in place and other positions are being finalised, including the secondment of people from the various utlities, who will make up the office.
Mr Browne said the office is one part of a "really important jigsaw" to deal with the housing crisis.
He said the housing plan will not be finalised until the National Development Plan is completed and that is a challengining situation with all Government departments looking for something from the NDP.
