Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Thursday, 3 June 2021

Public Accounts Committee

Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government (resumed)

10:10 am

Photo of Matt CarthyMatt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I want to go back to the issue of long-term leasing because there appears to be a nonsensical approach, particularly as it relates to Part 5 developments.

We know units appear to regularly cost in the region of €15,000 to €18,000 per year. Over 25 years, this works out on a real-term basis as somewhere between €375,000 and €450,000 per year. This is money the State has paid, but at the end of it has no asset in return. There was a furore over the fact that an affordable home was classified as €450,000 when most reasonable people would accept that was not affordable. How does the Department justify this level of funding for housing provision over a period of 25 years when at the end of the day, we still end up with somebody with a housing need and an outlay on the State, but has nothing to show for it in terms of a real asset?

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