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

I thank the Chair. I will continue on the housing vein. Given we all accept there may be capacity problems in ramping up the construction sector, what measures does the Minister intend to take to ensure no housing is built that is surplus to requirements and that the housing that is built is the housing we need, that is, is affordable housing? I know of a number of estates that are being built by the private sector in which the price range starts at €650,000 and goes up to €1 million. Is that not a waste of building capacity? The building that we need is public and affordable housing, namely, housing that is built either for the public sector directly or is affordable. Does the Minister intend to address that problem? Does the Minister think it is very foolish to be giving tax breaks, supports and incentives to builders who may build housing like that, when we need housing that is public and affordable?

On the subject of housing assistance payments and the rental accommodation scheme, to clarify for Deputy Bailey and for the Minister my question is far from being a one-liner. The Rebuilding Ireland plan, if it succeeds in its own terms, envisages 87,000 of the 133,000 housing units being annual expenditures, with only 50,000 being capital housing stock. That, to me, is a bad plan. It is not just about this year, it is a bad plan.