Cian O'Callaghan (Dublin Bay North, Social Democrats)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Many of the challenges for people around affordability relate to the upfront costs, but I agree with those points. It is worth noting that construction has always been more expensive than traditional houses, long before there were lifts or fire safety regulations or anything else. For example, if we compare the building cost of Fatima Mansions compared with a traditional social house at the time, the unit cost of Fatima Mansions came in considerably higher than the cost of building a traditional house.

I thank the officials from the Department for coming. In the opening statement, Mr. Ó Coigligh referred to the 2022 housing figures and noted that they are higher than the numbers delivered in any year since the mid-1970s. Will the Department please help me with this? The number of units delivered, which was announced yesterday, is 7,433. According to Housing Agency figures, in 2008, 7,866 new-build social homes were delivered. Are the Housing Agency figures wrong or how can the discrepancy be explained?