Steven Matthews (Wicklow, Green Party)
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I have visited some of those sites. I am sure we have all visited some of the new housing estates that are being built. I see hundreds and hundreds of houses being built. Every time I go to my constituency, there are more houses being built in it. I know from previous work experiences I have had that the quality of houses being built these days is incomparable to what was built in previous decades. I refer, for example, to the quality of construction and the energy efficiency of those homes. When we talk about the affordability of a house, if the energy rating and energy costs are affordable, that must be factored into it. The same applies when we provide good transport links. A house can be affordable, but if a person has to drive three or four hours every single day, that is a cost factor in housing as well. We need to recognise that.

When we talk about an underspend, we try to estimate at the start of the year how much we will need to provide the social housing target we have. What are the factors that create an underspend? To me, if a budget is allocated to do such an amount and when we come to the relevant time of the year we have underspent but we have hit our target, we are getting good value for money and have not spent it all.