Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)

Yes, the information would be useful, even for the Government. The Taoiseach is saying that we have never spent as much money on housing but a lot of that money is being spent on other things. In the budget, for example, there is mention of estate regeneration, energy efficiency, mortgage allowances and the Residential Tenancies Board. There are a lot of things mentioned that do not actually build housing. We need to get an accurate figure for how much money is actually going into building social and affordable housing within the budget. We need to invest more in direct State building, so it would be extremely useful to get an accurate figure.

Has the Minister adjusted the figures for an inflation analysis? A certain amount is being put in this year, there is an increase and there is an output. Has the Department conducted an analysis? What has been the inflation cost? Is it reasonable? Has the budget increased over the last couple of years, adjusted for inflation? It is difficult to break down the figures, but my sense is that the real increase is less if we adjust for inflation and, particularly, construction costs.