Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

We need to build more homes and have the different investments and policies in place to allow more homes to be built in our country. The Deputy asked about my track record on this. My track record also means that for 2023, €4 billion of Exchequer funding has been made available to lead to the building of more homes. Even though we need to build even more homes in the time ahead, there are some signs regarding the volume of new homes being built beginning steadily to improve. The number of new home completions for the first three quarters of this year was 20,807 and the number of commencements that are under way is also moving in the correct direction.

On the policies about which the Deputy is critical, I acknowledge we need to be better. I acknowledge that the polices I have in place need to deliver even more homes but, overall for this year, we are seeing clear signs of progress in more homes being built. That is relevant to the debate on this section because the case I make for REITs, IREFs and other institutional investors is that they are part of the answer to how we can deliver more supply. That is all I say they are. They do not equal all our housing policy for our country and will not deliver housing supply that works for all - clearly not - but they are part of how more homes will be built, just as how we invest in delivering more homes through our local authorities is also part of that really valuable housing mix on which we are making progress in 2022.

On the role of IREFs and REITs, at the moment, only one REIT is still operating in Ireland, although there are many more IREFs. If we look at the change we have seen in apartment output, in 2019 some 3,500 apartments were completed and that figure now stands at 8,700. Institutional investors play a part in that increased supply of housing, and it is my contention that if the tax treatment for IREFs, in particular, that is available in Ireland, which we have developed having looked at what other economies have available for encouraging institutional investment in property, was not available, it would lead to fewer apartments, in particular, being built and would lead to a reduction in supply.

As for the issues that need to be continually reviewed and assessed regarding the operation of this sector, as the Deputy will know, I stated, on budget day, that this is a sector for which we need to reassess the taxation policy because it is appropriate that we regularly examine tax policies that are in place and assess the impact they are having. Nevertheless, my core point is that these institutions are playing a role in new apartments, in particular, being built.