Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the presentations. I read some of these reports well over a year ago and it is frustrating to see how long it takes to get anything done. Dr. Healy referred to the question of whether something was on the balance sheet or off it but we have come so far in the housing crisis that we would look at anything that might be a solution. This offers an off-balance sheet model that could be sustainable in the long term.

We need to talk about public housing, and not social housing. This offers all of society an opportunity for a home because it goes way beyond the current social housing schemes. If we apply a differential scheme, the State will only pick up the difference so the model has huge potential. It would get over the issue of income limits because the rate would be based on a person's income. Both models propose a national body to manage it.

Dr. Kelly said that capital reserves would need to be built up. However, the credit unions have €700 million that they are waiting to invest in something such as this. The solutions are out there but they are not being delivered on, and that is frustrating.