Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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We will come in at approximately half of the target envisaged.

I note that in the lockdown this time last year social housing projects were continued. There is one very close to my area and I spoke to one of the officials about it during the break. That continued and did not stop during the lockdown. Okay, Covid had an effect, but it did not close down social housing construction. We barely hit half the target for the year. That is a concern. It suggests a couple of things. One is that there are huge delays in local authority approvals. There is also the fact that every estate has to have a separate architectural design carried out. There is a cost there. I know that at one time up to 7% of the cost was allowed for architectural design. I do not want everything to look like the Soviet Union in the 1950s, but we could have a specialised design for one-bedroom, two-bedroom, three-bedroom, four-bedroom and five-bedroom houses as well as for single storey, two storey, disabled access, wheelchair access and so forth. We should be able to move to a situation where we are not starting with a blank canvas. I am just making that point. I have spoken to Ministers about it in the past and I am raising it with you today.