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

Is it the case not just in Shanganagh, although that is an example, that we have a requirement to look at all the different models? I do not see the logic, especially when Ms Bryce has more or less admitted that the PPP has a much longer timeline and that is because it is a more complicated process. I do not see the advantage of it and even less so given the point made about competition between the public and private sectors. There is limited capacity to build at the moment and I would have thought that the State must grab as much of that capacity as it possibly can, to produce affordable housing. The obvious danger with the private providers seeking the highest possible return is that like lemmings they will all go running after the highest return and after a certain point, because they are all looking for the same highest return, there is an oversupply in one part of the market and a chronic undersupply in another part of the market. There is some evidence that that is happening already. Some builders are building homes that nobody could ever afford to buy, or very soon the limited market that could afford houses for €800,000 or €900,000 will run out and we will have houses that cost that amount sitting empty when that building capacity should have been used to build houses that cost €200,000 or €300,000 and social housing. I know the NTMA witnesses cannot comment on the ideological debate but on a purely practical level, given the limited capacity they are talking about, I do not see why they would go for a more cumbersome complex process and want to include a sector that is taking risks, because given the urgency we cannot afford to take risks with limited capacity.

I have one last question which I did not ask in my initial contribution, on which I invite the NTMA witnesses to comment. Do they have any role in Part 5?