Maria McCormack (Sinn Fein)
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I am sorry; I missed a piece in the middle. Like Deputy Butterly, a lot of my questions have already been answered. Again like Deputy Butterly, I live in a small county, Laois, but our population is growing very significantly. Since the last census, we have grown by 8.5%. Being a commuter town causes serious problems. We have had a very significant influx of people coming into the town and we just do not have the level of building needed. It comes down to small builders not being able to get finance. Commencements in Laois are just at a standstill. What is in the commission report that is going to help get building going again and to get it to a more affordable level? As a county, Laois has the second lowest level of disposable income in the country. We need to look at this and to see how we can make sure that areas outside of the big cities are included in this. We must have plans for these areas because we need to get back to affordability. Right now, there is just no affordable housing in Laois.