Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I am sorry I had to leave to speak elsewhere. I am not sure whether I was appreciated in those places or not but we will have to push on. Indexation has merits but it is not the answer. When I left the meeting I referenced how it restricts the degree to which Governments can respond and how it leaves them with fewer options. Dr. Healy mentioned 2007 as almost being the ideal situation in terms of income distribution and so on. Unfortunately the country was bust and broke at the time and it was not able to pay its way. We have to be careful to never walk in those footsteps again. Since then we paid €60 billion to rescue all sorts of institutions that failed and we had to face the other challenge of Covid. That has not been a bridge too far but it was tardily and carefully crossed.

We have to look at a few things. I said to Dr. Healy 25 years ago that the biggest issue to affect the country in the next 20 years would be housing. That was a fact then and it is still a fact. The cost of housing to any family is a huge impact. We can have all the taxation increases we want but the amount that goes towards paying the rent or mortgage is the single biggest determinant in deciding how much money is available for the household to live on afterwards. Unfortunately we have gone in the wrong direction there and the Government is trying to catch up with it. We know that has been going on for the last number of years and we are making some progress but that progress is not in line with what we would need to be doing in order to alleviate the burden and threat on families that may be on the margins. There was a time back in the 1980s when it was possible for people to house themselves or be housed and every local authority in the country was able to do it. However, we had a debate and discussion on that and the whole system changed.

We are now in a different region so what do we do from here? We have to go for an increase in housing output in order to pull down that single biggest factor hanging over the heads of every family in the country, whether they be middle income or lower income. In the lower income brackets it affects the household much more. I am sorry to go on about this but it is something I have spent a lot of time talking about over the years. I have not solved the problem yet but the problem is solvable if we are successful in providing the number of houses that are needed to meet the demands. The economy will recover and it is recovering now. There will be a greater demand for housing in the next two years arising from people coming into the country, staying in the country and working in jobs that are available here. One only has to look at the recent reports on that.

I am glad to see that the number of jobs available to women has increased, particularly permanent jobs which is good. I am not saying this just because the women are listening but the mammies have always been seen to give a good economic example. They try everything and push hard all the time and they are at the coalface. They know how to do things themselves and they do it. I will rest my case for now. I thank the Chair for letting me in again and I am sorry for imposing at the end. Dr. Healy and I will have this debate again in about ten years’ time.