Brian Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

One has to take these figures into account and the state of the construction industry, given that it represents 12% of national output. We must take into account what the relative health of the construction industry would be in trying to project forward Revenue figures, given the good contribution it makes, as I have acknowledged. This is true in terms of the building industry, the materials that go towards the construction of residential and other properties and the stamp duty payable based on the conveyancing of those purchases by developers or other private owners. These facts must be taken into account. It is extraordinary in some respects looking back over the past decade, that the affordability of housing is still sustainable.

As the Deputy has said, repayments of up to €1,500 are commonplace. Given that average industrial wage earners now have on average a take home pay of €11,400 more than eight years ago, that helps to put in context why, perhaps, it is now more affordable for people to make those types of repayment as a percentage of total disposable income. Wages growth has well outstripped inflation and there has also been tax reform which has made the difference between the net and gross disposable income in Ireland the narrowest in any OECD country. A much younger cohort of people is coming into the market because of the changing demographic profile. Their earning capacity and the types of jobs being created in the economy that bring them into the market are such as to give rise to this unprecedented growth. People in the construction industry and commentators in general, including economists, have been forecasting a cooling off in the requirements for increased output in the housing sector for at least four or five years, yet housing output is again at record levels this year, compared with 2005.

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