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

He did not put a timeline on it either. The Deputy put his question as if there was nothing happening on the supply side. The Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government is Deputy Coveney. He got an enormous budget last year of €5.5 billion and has introduced dozens of supply side initiatives to help the supply of houses. He is the Minister responsible for housing but I am sure the Deputy is familiar with that. My job as the Minister for Finance is to provide the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform with sufficient funds to fund all these schemes and to see if nuancing of tax arrangements can help the housing situation but my influence on it is marginal. The main driver of housing policy is the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government. It is incorrect to say, and I am sure the Deputy does not believe it, that there are no supply side initiatives taken when he has been introducing supply side initiatives for 12 months. They are working. This year he says the supply will go from 12,000 or 13,000 last year to somewhere between 18,000 and 19,000 this year. He is predicting approximately 23,000 for next year. The ESRI says what is required is 25,000 a year and he will not be too far off that in 2018 but of course to make up for the years when nothing or very little was built one would need to overshoot for four or five years over the 25,000. He has taken a series of initiatives. The Deputy should be fair to him and give him credit.