Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We might move on.

I missed part of the debate but I know many speakers earlier spoke about housing. What was very striking for a number of us was that recently Professor Ronan Lyons tried to put figures on what would be a stable housing output and backlog for the country. He indicated that we immediately need 120,000 housing units and 50,000 more per annum. We have never had that kind of feedback from the witnesses' organisation on the infrastructural deficit, although week in, week out, we deal with desperate people and people on the verge of breakdown who are living in terrible accommodation. What is the kind of housing output we should achieve for equilibrium? Representatives from the Central Bank have indicated that figures from ESB Networks state there are 20,000 units for this year, which is way below what we need. It is a desperate position but there is immediate talk of overheating. This is an issue for tens of thousands of our people this very night in this city and country. The witnesses are not addressing these matters.