Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein)
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I will come in on the issue of retrofits, if I may. I have raised with Mr. Doyle a number of times the need for deep retrofits, including external wraps, on old local authority houses. Such retrofits are more difficult. In those old estates, No. 30 may be local authority-owned while No. 31 is privately owned, which causes difficulties. I acknowledge the progress on that. Local authorities have certainly got at it, at least in my neck of the woods. In one estate, O'Moore Place in Portlaoise, external wraps have been installed and heat pumps fitted. The results have been good despite the difficulties. I acknowledge the work that is being done. I hope it can be accelerated to meet climate targets and also to address fuel poverty.

On housing output, the underspend and affordable housing units, where people can borrow from a bank and raise €220,000 or €230,000 for a house priced at, for example, €300,000, the scheme will step in and provide a top-up on a shared equity model, with a charge being placed on the property. That charge then becomes payable at a later date. Buyers have up to six years to pay off the State's contribution before a charge applies. Nevertheless, buyers will be an extra €60,000 or €70,000 in debt on such a house. It came as a revelation to me that, with units delivered now being counted, only 101 units were delivered by local authorities through this scheme in the first six months of the year, along with 22 cost-rental units. I was not aware of that and many others, including many public representatives, will be surprised to hear it. Politically, there is a big drive on with regard to the need for cost-rental properties. Will Mr. Doyle briefly explain how we are going to reach 5,500? In reality, will 5,000 of these units fall under the shared-equity scheme or some other scheme that does not actually represent affordable housing? My point is that the price of the house does not drop under the shared equity scheme. Along with many people who observe the housing market, I would argue that these types of schemes actually inflate prices. Will Mr. Doyle give me a rough breakdown of what number he envisages being built by local authorities and the number that will be cost-rental units? How will it be divided?