Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would take the Chairman’s point about the position if we were to take it that 50,000 was the target, although I am not saying that is the case. It came up at the last meeting and we will be having discussions based on our new targets and what that will look like with regard to capital investment, both public and private. Right now, to deliver an average of 33,000, it is about €13 billion to €14 billion, so if we take that leap up to 50,000, we are going upwards to €20 billion. That is what we are looking at in real terms between private and public.

The one advantage that Housing for All has had is that the State has funded it on a multi-annual basis so we are able to provide certainty to approved housing bodies and local authorities, and also the private sector because it knew the State was invested and we would not be going back every year. Earlier this year, we had negotiations within government regarding additional capital for this year but that was on top of what was already agreed. We have already set out what our capital expenditure will be over the term of this Government and that was agreed and was in the base, and it meant we could take that step up. To answer the question, if the target was about 50,000 per annum, we would be looking at €20 billion.