Mr. Frank Curran:

I thank the Deputy. The targets she mentions in the housing delivery action plans are based around Housing for All. They will set out the how, where and when of the units being delivered. There will be details on each local authority and the targets will have been set in conjunction with the local authorities. As I mentioned, we are still confident about delivering on those. In the period between 2016 and 2021, more than 48,000 units were delivered between build, acquisition and lease. That is taking into account what happened with Covid during 2020 when there was a three-month delay and in 2021 when all those issues the Deputy mentioned started to come in. There was still very significant delivery at that time and that is continuing on the ground. We have all the mechanisms I mentioned at our disposal, namely, direct build, advance purchase, PPP, Part V, etc., and we are working with our colleagues in the LDA and the approved housing bodies.

Having said all of that, the issues we raise are real issues. Price inflation was mentioned earlier. This is a real issue for contractors who are on site and for those looking to tender for new work. It is a real issue for subcontractors. What can we do? I believe the Office of Government Procurement, OGP, could look at this in terms of price variation clauses in contracts, which might make them more attractive and reduce the risk for contractors who are coming in. This is something that could be done. We need to work with the construction industry on this, along with the Construction Industry Federation and the Office of Government Procurement.

Skills are also a real issue, and it is very difficult in particular for the wet trades. As was said earlier, the Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, has put a lot of work into this. We really need to target the schools and parents to let them know that these trades and roles are really good options for young people. That message has to get out there. With regard to energy retrofitting, if a person in their 40s was unemployed and if he or she went back and trained in energy retrofitting, there would be sufficient work right now to take them through to the retirement. These are really attractive careers and jobs out there, but people need to be trained. There needs to be a sales pitch made that these really are trades worth getting into.

It is about keeping an eye on price inflation, working with the Office of Government Procurement, working with the Construction Industry Federation, and selling the idea on skills to the people who are leaving school and who are in school that these are really good career options.