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

I welcome the Minister and Ministers of State. The Department is very large and has responsibility for a wide range of areas. The committee rightly focuses on housing but we try to have a balance by discussing all the portfolios in the Department. I congratulate Deputy O'Donnell on his appointment as Minister of State in the Department.

In measuring and approving spending, we need to measure outcomes. When the quarter 4 figures for housing completions were published a fortnight ago, there was a major dispute on the veracity of the Central Statistics Office, CSO, figures. I ask the Minister to comment on that. If we are going to measure the housing being built, it is important that we use figures in which we have confidence. The debate on these figures has not been helpful.