Ms Áine Myler:

I want to address the question about direct provision. We are not here as proponents of any scheme today. We want to see the delivery of housing for people who need it. What I do not hear in the direct provision model at the moment is an awareness of the capacity that is in the industry at present to deliver all of the projects that are out there, both commercial and residential. As somebody who lived in social housing for most of my early years, up to the time I got married, I accept the point about the lack of repair and management of those schemes, probably due to lack of finance. That is something that might be proposed by the Government in a direct provision model for social housing in the future. It would have to be addressed to ensure the longevity of the stock. I think that is perhaps addressed in the public private partnership, PPP, model, although there are concerns about the management of that, but at least there is a plan for the management of it, which is important.

We must recognise that we are in competition with the market for resources that are relatively scarce. The market by its very nature will go to the most remunerative, expedient project in order to make a profit. That is natural in the sense that that is how the marketplace operates. We have not fully resourced the sector again. We are missing people from all types of skills areas and social housing and public housing are in direct competition with that capacity resourcing issue at this point so that is a major factor to consider.