Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank all of the witnesses for all their answers. Apologies, I had to step out for a little bit of work. I know it is a long meeting but the information they have given us is genuinely valuable so I hope they do not feel we are having them here under sufferance. I have one request and two questions. This committee is doing a separate piece of work trying to understand housing need and demand assessment. If both councils were in a position to give a short note to the committee secretariat explaining the specific local inputs in their two local authority areas, particularly the affordability challenge but also any other specific information about social housing, that would be great. I only need something very short; I know the witnesses are very busy.

In response to Deputy Higgins and Deputy Ó Cuív, some figures were given out for the social housing waiting lists. I suspect Cork might have given us a net list figure and Galway might have given us a gross list figure but I could be wrong. Generally, the city councils do not do gross housing need. That is a wonderful thing I discovered when I was in with some smaller local authorities a while back. It is a brilliant thing. For clarity, if both councils know their net and gross needs, I ask them to explain the difference for the slow learners on this side of the room. That would be helpful.