Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

When the report is published, there will be an abundance of evidence to demonstrate all of our wholehearted commitment to affordability. Deputy Gould's amendment did not set a precise figure, hence the reason we could accept it and move forward with it. The difficulty is that we are putting in place a precise definition that fetters the decision making and the discretion of a Minister in a context also where there are many other external moving parts outside of even the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.

These include initiatives such as the introduction of the living wage and the movement in that direction. Fixing anything at 30%, in a sense, may become irrelevant very quickly in the coming years. While the sentiment of it is there, that sentiment of affordability is already enshrined within the report on an all-party and all-committee basis.