Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

When we look at the run rate at present we see underspends in some Departments, including housing, because of delays in getting certain projects off the ground and getting various schemes started. It is my expectation, and certainly the view of the Minister with responsibility for housing, that there are adequate resources. We may well see a carryover from the housing budget into next year as we did from 2021 to 2022. That was because of Covid and the shutdown of the industry for a number of months in 2020 and 2021. There is a knock-on effect, which has significantly enhanced the budget in the current year. It may be able to spend it all. It is behind profile at present. It is heavily back-ended because of the way the payment mechanisms work with local authorities throughout the country. I expect there may well be a carryover into next year. Certainly we do not hear concerns from the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government about its ability from a funding perspective to deliver on the commitments in Housing For All in terms of outputs and the number of units.