Mr. Paul Hogan:

It is very difficult to isolate supply from demand. We have a requirement to increase supply. The main thing is that the commitments that are there to do that are protected. That is the starting point. On how that might be developed or accelerated, there is the Land Development Agency. I had not intended to get into a big discussion about it as it has been the subject of other meetings. However, the Land Development Agency will increasingly effect that change over time. It will not necessarily be this year. It will take time to ramp up, but by the time these types of issues manifest, we would expect that, particularly in the area of affordable housing, the Land Development Agency would start to make a difference.

The Chairman mentioned key infrastructure plans.

Part of the overall NDP and Project Ireland 2040 strategy and something that seems more likely, despite all the uncertainty of Brexit, is that we need to build up the capacity for increased housing supply in our cities and large towns. There is an issue with mobility. The biggest influence on the capacity for densification or higher density of housing and the ability to provide more housing while maintaining a degree of amenity for people is urban mobility, public transport, walking and cycling. I know these things are very easily said, but we can see the tremendous success of something like the Luas where people will use it and travel some distance to use it, as well as other reliable forms of public transport. We need to ramp up our capacity to move people within our cities because that underpins the strategies we have for any increased demand for housing and our capacity to provide more of the type that is needed in the places it is required. If we do not, we will be left with the option of going even further out.