Mick Barry (Cork North Central, Solidarity) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Dowd for sharing the time. The only issue with which I want to deal is affordable housing and what housing will cost under the affordable scheme. A lot of people are interested in hearing the answer to that question. I note the Minister has informed the committee that he intends to publish next week the criteria for the affordable housing arrangements. People will be watching very carefully to see what is announced there. I look at the section of the speech dealing with affordable housing and a key line in it is the statement that there will be serviced sites funding of €50,000 per affordable home and that on this basis at least 6,200 affordable homes could be facilitated. I look at the figure of €50,000 and I see that the average market price of a home in Dublin is approximately €380,000. If one takes €50,000 away from that, one comes to €330,000 which is well beyond the means of a young person out of university who has worked for a couple of years or even of many workers on the average wage. However, I am keen to tease out how the €50,000 will work because the speech said the funding was available to facilitate infrastructure and to support the provision to purchase or rent. Am I correct to say that means it is not a straightforward situation of a market price minus €50,000? Rather, the €50,000 will go on infrastructure and contribute to a lower price in a different way. Can the Minister clarify that? To get down to brass tacks, which is what people watching will be interested in, I take the examples of Dublin and Cork, our two largest cities. Under the terms of the affordable housing arrangements the Minister intends to publish next week, what will it mean in practical terms for a working couple on the average wage for the price of a house in Dublin or Cork? What will be knocked off the extraordinarily high and unaffordable market rates that exist now? Sin é.