Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for not hearing all the opening statements and if I cover something we have already covered.

Ensuring affordable supply is one of the key goals of the Government. Many of the provisions in Housing for All are tools to deliver affordability. In many cases, we are using State lands. We are using a State agency to master-plan or design. When projects go to tender, we use direct subsidy by the Department, in some cases amounting to up to €100,000 off the cost price. We are also providing funding to service sites. Even with all this support, which can be almost €150,000 per unit, we sometimes do not get a price that my colleagues here might regard as affordable. Is the cost of construction the key barrier? What can we do to tackle the issue of the cost of construction and the inflationary impacts? I welcome the announcement of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Deputy Michael McGrath, on covering the inflationary impacts, but all that is being achieved is an increase in the cost, which, despite all the other interventions, is deemed by many to be unaffordable.

Perhaps Ms Geraghty will address that question.

There is also an issue for the industry and I would very much appreciate the input of our guests with regard to specifications and standards. While that is not to suggest that we would lower them in any way, there is an issue with costs. When Dublin City Council is getting quoted prices that the industry says it cannot deliver below, that is a real barrier to delivering affordability for any State agency.