Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Perhaps it is straying into policy but a report produced by the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform confirmed a concern that had been raised by many members about the unsustainable cost of financing public housing output by leasing or renting social housing from the private sector. Mel Reynolds has recently said that even if Rebuilding Ireland targets were met in this way we could be talking about giving €1.7 billion each year to the private sector to lease or rent social housing, as opposed to the State building the housing itself. Even though the upfront capital cost would be greater it would be more sustainable in the long term because the drain on the current public finances would reduce over time. Does Mr. Coffey believe this is an important point to highlight?