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

I thank Mr. Hogan and his team for the presentation and their work to date. I agree with the Chair, although this is not in any way a criticism of Mr. Hogan or his team, given we understand it was a decision of the Government, that we will definitely need a meeting in September. Moreover, although this is also an issue for the Minister rather than for the officials, the 12 September deadline is far too tight. It leaves a very short period and people will be on holidays for some of that. Given the breadth and scope of the NPF and the desire of many of us to put in detailed submissions, it may be that we need at least until the end of September but that might be something we consider as a committee to request from the Minister.

I have not had time to go through the detail of the draft but I will deal with the housing targets, which will be no surprise to Mr. Hogan. It is most welcome that the final draft of the revised NPF will require the approval of each House of the Oireachtas, given that the NPF itself did not go to the Houses of the Oireachtas. That that was what the legislation required is interesting. I welcome that and contrast it with the row that was had over the failure of that to happen the previous time.

When I read the section on housing, it jumped out at me that the Department is saying there are going to need to be on average 50,000 new homes a year out to 2040, but I have no idea where that number comes from. The ESRI's report is very good research, even if the terms of reference were too limited, which was the fault of the Department and the Minister rather than that of the institute. It said that structural demand and new emerging housing demand would require 44,000 new homes on average per year over that period. Of course, as Mr. Hogan will know, the ESRI was not allowed to look at the issue of pent-up demand. The Housing Commission has calculated an estimate and indicated that pent-up demand would require an additional 15,000 to 25,000 new homes a year over the period the commission has outlined. The Department has added just 6,000 and I understand, if I read correctly its press release in response, that it explains the difference between the 44,000 and the 50,000 by reference to unmet or pent-up demand.

Where does the figure 50,000 come from? It seems it came from a speech by the Taoiseach at his party's Ard-Fheis and not from the research of the ESRI or the Housing Commission, although Mr. Hogan might correct me if I am wrong. Does the difference between the ESRI's 44,000 and the 50,000 equate to 6,000 to deal with just some of the unmet demand?