Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My first question is in regard to the overheating of the economy, which Dr. McDonnell predicted might occur by the end of 2019. First, what areas have the potential to cause that overheating and, second, how do we combat them? All the reports to date that I have seen suggest that the potential for overheating comes from the construction sector, but on the non-domestic side - hotels, office blocks and so on - rather than the housing side. How do we combat that?

There is a difficulty since we are not meeting the substantial demand for housing with enough supply. What is the likelihood, if we start to ramp up our housing programmes, that it could lead to overheating in the economy? How do we address the skills shortage?