Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I ask Mr. Coffey to consider this premise because I think it is very important. One of the biggest factors likely to contribute to overheating is the chronic under-provision of affordable housing. What happened previously is that we had an enormous property boom and the housing crisis was getting worse during that period, even before the crash. We were having record levels of output but it was directed at selling for a profit and the prices were unsustainable because people's incomes could not match them and they had to get themselves into a lot of debt. With public housing one does not have that problem so people do not incur big debts. There is a revenue stream that is self financing over an approximate period of 30 years. The other big advantage is that it keeps a lid on property prices generally and it stops the distortions developing even in the private market. Is that not a win-win?