Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am of the opinion that the various incentives in Housing for All, which have been referred to, are beginning to tell in the sense that more houses are being built, more people are buying houses and more people have bought houses in the past year. We can dress it up any way we like depending on whether we were in opposition or otherwise. Usually, in opposition, one tends to exaggerate the negative aspects and, in government, we are obviously bound to underline the benefits. There are still a couple of glitches in the marketplace.

One thing we should remember is this: when increased housing credit comes on the market, it drives up the price of houses. That is without a doubt. That is one of the things that has happened and there is nothing we can do about that unless we dramatically increase the supply at the same time. That will have a major effect. At this stage, the hunger for housing is huge and the demand is huge, and it will continue in that way for some time, for another couple of years. At the same time, however, it is not true to say that the action being taken is not having an effect. It is having an effect. The quality of houses and the number of houses being built has increased, is increasing and, obviously, is likely to increase.

The point is that there are a few people who are applicants who are still isolated, and they are the people who have been renting from, say, 20 years back.

They are now in a situation whereby the house has been sold because the market prices are at the top of the range. At the same time, those people have nowhere to go. The local authority is their only refuge and they have to have a local authority house. To my mind, it is unfair to expect them to start a mortgage at 50 years of age or 60 years of age and to expect them to have a reasonable repayment. It cannot be done. It is important we look at that, and I have asked about that in various parliamentary questions to a whole host of Ministers. I think it can be done, but it has to be done specifically targeting that group of people. It has to be done in the short term rather than the long term. What is happening now is because of, as I said, the house prices reaching their zenith. There are more and more people whose leases are ending, who are being told to end their lease, or whatever the case may be. The more that happens, the more the demand will increase and the greater the trauma for the people who are at the receiving end of it. We need to home in on that particular area and identify those people.

My other point relates to young purchasers. There are many young people who have a reasonable income, who can bat for themselves in the marketplace and who are doing so. That again contributes to the soaking up of the availability of supply. It comes back to the issue of supply, as I said in the beginning. It does require an accelerated supply which, in turn, will benefit all. It is hard to get there, but it is having results. The housing policies of the Government are beginning to work, albeit somewhat slower than we would like. However, the fact is they are beginning to work and without crashing the market in one way or another and without exhausting the availability of credit and finance. That is essential to all house purchasers. All in all, it is fair to say that things are progressing satisfactorily, but not as fast as we would like. I think the Minister has said that himself on many occasions in the past, but it is important to recognise and acknowledge that.