Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I want to talk about affordability and costs. Most of us are in agreement that the number of houses built over the next couple of years must be higher than the number arising out of the progress made under Housing for All. A figure of 50,000 was mentioned. Very few people are talking about affordability and how we can make a product that is quite expensive to build affordable for the people seeking to purchase it. We have introduced a raft of measures, including the reduction in the development contribution schemes and, at the other end, the ability for people to avail of first-time buyer grants, shared equity schemes, etc.

If the Minister had another five years in office, what measures would be introduce? Would he focus on projects using modular, low-carbon technology that allows houses to be built faster and involves a less intensive kind of labour? Is there a need for more standardisation in housing? In my previous job, I worked on corporation houses that were built in the 1940s. It did not matter if they were located in Crumlin, Bray or wherever, they were all identical. I assume that type of standardisation reduced costs. Looking ahead to the next two to three years, what can we do to make the expensive, high-standard product we are building a little more affordable for the average person who wants to buy or rent it?