Mr. Martin Shanahan:

I want to make sure I put the following in context. As every Deputy and Senator knows and everybody else knows, housing is an issue and that is why it is a Government priority. We have a policy document called Rebuilding Ireland, and earlier the Minister here referred to the actions that are being undertaken as part of the policy. We have seen progress. The increase in planning permissions, completions and the plans that are in place give companies comfort that there is a plan and that it is being executed.

The immediate situation puts pressure on prices. This is as much about the availability of talent as anything else. Companies need employees and employees must be able to afford a place to live. Ireland is not unique in this area, which is an important aspect that may be missed at times in the broader discussion. Ireland must compete for investments against other locations. I will give the committee a sense of what has happened in other places. One headline that I read in August and was broadcast by the CBS channel said "California Mayors Urge Lawmakers to Fix Housing Shortage". Last month in November, the Financial Timeshad the headline: "Amsterdam returns Dutch house prices to 2008 highs". The headline: "Property Prices in Paris Soar to an All-Time High" appeared in the French Tribunelast November. All of these examples show that the issues that exist here also exist in many of the places that we compete with. Does the matter have to be resolved? Yes, for many reasons and not alone because we are trying to attract foreign direct investment. Are there plans in place? Yes. Does that give comfort? Yes.

I do not believe that we have lost investments specifically because of housing. Typically, companies consider multiple factors that they put on an Excel spreadsheet. Some things will be positive and some things will be negative but they get an answer. Does it represent an opportunity for places outside of Dublin? Yes, because the cost differential outside of Dublin is definitely less and we can make that case. If one wants to come to Ireland, we can play up the fact that there is a cost differential. That is why we have seen an increased investment in some areas, including Limerick, Galway and Waterford. We do need a supply of residential housing in those locations.

In terms of broadband, the Government has a clear plan on which the Minister may wish to comment. Broadband is being rolled out. Obviously the better the broadband, the better we can sell a location. I may have pointed out that we also consider new models of investment. For example, all of Shopify's business is done through home working. Shopify set itself up in the west using a home working model and all of its employees are distributed around the area. A large proportion of employees who work in some of the tech companies work from home. The better and more robust the broadband, the more we can distribute workforces.