Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I wish to make one point and then I will bring in Deputy Gould. It was kind of in my line of questioning previously and it was mentioned in the opening statements. We are moving to ultra-efficient buildings, like the passive house standard almost or like how Shanganagh Castle Estate was constructed. Conventionally, you would have looked at one third of the income as being pitched around something that is affordable, but we also are pitching higher density and well-designed, transport-oriented developments. People are obliged to deal with the cost of long commutes, the price of petrol and diesel and high heating costs. They must also deal with the cost relating to loss of heat from those houses. Is there a point where we say that this is a far better product that involves far cheaper running costs and that affords people health benefits and quality-of-life benefits? The latter are sometimes more difficult to estimate? Is that a factor that has to be considered, rather than just sticking with the criterion of one third of income? I do not expect the witnesses to be able to answer that question. The calculation needs to be nuanced when talking about a product of that nature.