#Budget18: Housing Minister aims to help 3,000 out of homeless next year

A new target of helping 3,000 people out of homelessness in 2018 has been set by the Housing Minister.

Eoghan Murphy has also rejected criticism by NGOs that there is not enough urgency in the Budget to tackle homelessness.

Minister Murphy says 3,800 homes will be built directly by the State next year.

"We're going to see an almost doubling of the number houses directly built by local authorities and housing bodies next year over this year. That's a significant scaling up," he said.

"It's going to increase again into the following year. When you start to tie in things like part-Vs, void conversions, acquisitions and long-term leases - it's a significant increase in what we were doing before," he added.