Maurice Quinlivan (Limerick City, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the comments made by the Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland. I was struck by the terms used, namely, that the system is broken. In the presentation, the society stated the current crisis is a direct consequence of national strategy and that the over-reliance on the private sector to provide all housing is a significant problem. The Minister’s 2020 plan to deliver 100,000 housing units is based on 80% of these being delivered by the private sector. This needs to be flagged and is a problem the society has flagged itself.

The witnesses are flagging the fact that it will obviously be a problem and it is good to see it put down in documentation.

The witnesses talk about local authority investment in infrastructure. Could they expand on what they mean? What do local authorities need to do and what funding do they need to do it?