Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Will the Taoiseach give us a sense of how much of the work of the cross-departmental team is concerned with housing? I know it is not possible to go back over the various minutes of meetings. Will the Taoiseach agree that in response to previous questions on this matter, the housing issue was not a major concern of the cross-departmental team? Will he refer last week's Permanent TSB-ESRI report, which demonstrated an increase of 300% in house prices in the past decade to the team?

I hope the Taoiseach will confirm that housing is an integral part of our overall infrastructure. Why is it that tens of thousands of families are being denied the opportunity to obtain a home through either social and affordable means or other provisions? Affordability is a critical issue, particularly with soaring house prices. Will the Taoiseach ask the team to examine what measures it can introduce to seek to limit the massive profits of developers? With approximately 44,000 families on local authority waiting lists, will the Taoiseach set a definite target so no one must remain on such a waiting list for over 18 months? Will the Taoiseach agree that is what we should be aspiring to and working towards?

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