Michael Noonan (Limerick City, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Deputy McGrath suggests a report on the cost of delivering a new home in Ireland and the options available for reducing that cost, without compromising the quality of the home. While I have no doubt that such a report would be of interest, I would suggest that this is an overly simplistic approach to the complex issue of why construction has slowed.

A report by the Society of Chartered Surveyors of Ireland highlighted that the cost to build a house is approximately half the overall cost of providing a house. This report highlights that non-construction factors, such as the cost of acquisition and development finance, design, sales and marketing, margin, including profit, and elements such as levies and VAT, are all important elements influencing the economic and sustainable cost of a new house.

Officials in my Department previously looked at this issue, and highlighted that issues affecting the profitability of construction include a wide range of factors and cost elements, including labour costs, taxes, development contributions, building regulations, land price and financing costs. These considerations fed into the Government response to this matter, namely, the number of measures and actions being taken to lead to a fully functioning housing market that responds adequately to the needs of our citizens. These are included in Rebuilding Ireland - The Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, which was launched last July. Implementation of the plan is being led by the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government, with cross-departmental support.

This comprehensive action plan takes a holistic approach to addressing the many interacting structural constraints affecting the housing market in areas such as planning and land use, as well as regulation and skills deficits in the construction sector. While the primary focus of the action plan is to tackle structural constraints, fiscal supports can play a supporting and time-bound role in addressing the current problems in the housing sector.

I do not consider the completion of such a report, as sought by the Deputy’s amendment as being appropriate for inclusion in the Finance Bill, as the matter is in the first instance more appropriate to the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. There is, however, merit in the amendment and I would be prepared to raise the issue with the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. Quite frankly, my Department would not have the capacity to do this alone because it would not have access to the information.