Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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Let me press the Minister on that, because my question is not about the integrity of the CSO. I was, in fact, one of the people who argued it should have this responsibility. However, the key point is the CSO agreed a methodology back in 2018, and one of the reasons it did not use completion certificates at that stage is we were still at an early stage of the BCMS and new home completions.

They took the view, which I think was the right one at the time, that the ESB connections data, with some caveats, were the best data set at that point in time. Things have changed and the completion certificate and building control management system is much more advanced. There is a question that needs to be explained. For example, in Dublin city the gap between the ESB connection figure and the completion certificate figure is 1,500 units. That gap needs to be explained. Rather than suggesting that somebody is questioning the integrity of the CSO, there is a legitimate question here, which is why the completion certificate data are different. A completion certificate is a legal requirement before a building can be occupied, whereas ESB connections can be before, after or following extensions and all sorts of things. All I am asking the Minister is if he does not think it is worthwhile interrogating the system to make sure the methodology that was agreed in 2018 is still the best methodology. By the way, it could well be. There could be a very simple explanation, or it could be that the methodology needs to be improved. That is all many of us are asking the Minister to consider. Some 6,000 homes is a big difference, so how does he explain the difference between the two methodologies?