Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was coming to that. We have returned to a point where there is a process of direct financing of local authority builds. However, recent reports from the NESC, etc., highlight that this model will not be sustainable into the future. We must find new ways of proceeding. In addition, those in private sector construction must step up to the mark. As Deputy Higgins is well aware, 90,000 houses were built annually during the height of the so-called boom. Last year, just under 9,000 houses were built. That represents an enormous collapse. We need to increase the number again and build 25,000 or 30,000 houses annually for the next number of years. It is hoped that the social housing innovation introduced and the construction stimulus and new planning legislation being brought forward by the Government will facilitate the type of activity required to invigorate the economy so that people will be able to obtain jobs and have a few euro to spend. The latter helps retail businesses in the localities in which developments are taking place.

That to which I refer is of benefit but it is clear that people must be able to feel the change that is taking place, both in their pockets and in their daily lives. This is not happening yet. Things have improved and Dublin has felt the impact of this in a much bigger way than other places. That improvement must be filtered out to the different regions. The Government spent €500 million on extending fibre-optic cable to so many towns and villages in order that those who live there might have access to proper broadband services with sufficient speed to allow them to do their business. There is also the continuation of the stimulus package for bundles of schools, the development at Grangegorman in Dublin and the completion of sections of motorways that were left unfinished and other major projects of that nature.

This is all part of the economic stimulus we need but we clearly have quite a distance to go. However, we have come a long way in three years and the challenges we have faced have been onerous for many people. Obviously, I disagree with Deputy Adams. We want hard-working families to be rewarded for the challenges in question. We also want those on the live register to have the incentive to find new jobs from which they will obtain incomes that will put them in a better place than they have been to date. That is all part of the challenge. Deputy Higgins has a different set of views and priority than those in government. Our priority is to fix the public finances and get the country back to work.

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