Mr. Hubert Fitzpatrick:

Some 45% of the cost of every house is made up of taxation. About 45% of the cost of the house is reflective of the actual construction costs. We want to reduce the cost of building houses. I referred in an earlier response to how we are actively working with the Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government to see how the cost can be reduced. We have to ensure housing is affordable to people who need the houses. We can see if we can reduce the cost, maintaining the standards but looking at the design of the units to see if we are overdesigning units when it comes to size. The unit size in some local authorities in this country is up to 20% larger than it is in the UK. Maybe we need minimum size standards to be determined by the Department. That could actually work.

Could we look at how the development levies are applied in housing or at VAT, which is an applicable cost that does not apply in the UK or Northern Ireland? We have significant contributions to various utility companies. On social and affordable housing, the industry will certainly deliver houses on a very competitive tender basis to any local authority. We will certainly be able to compete with any direct-build teams that any local authority would put in place in respect of housing. It is in all our interests to ensure we can build the required number of units in the right locations that are affordable to everybody. We certainly will not be found wanting in our attempts to try to reduce costs wherever we can. It will require co-operation from the State to ensure that can happen.