Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is saying these particular measures will help to stimulate activity in the housing sector. However, requirements such as factoring in house prices in an area will effectively see the invention of a great deal of bureaucracy. It would be much cleaner and involve a lot fewer loopholes if my amendment were adopted. As to stimulating activity, I maintain that in the present climate, if legislation does not initiate some really dramatic change, it will simply remain unappetising for the private sector to start building again in a serious way. People will build one-off houses, of course, and there is a whole separate discussion to be had about how much of that should be allowed. The worst of the housing crisis is in Dublin and I estimate that fewer than half the units completed in the city this year will go for sale. In the case of most of the major developments by the likes of Kennedy Wilson, there is no intention of putting the units up for sale. Kennedy Wilson has no appetite for that, but it does, because rents are so high, have an appetite for going into the rental market. Unfortunately, a whole range of factors that are relevant when it comes to stimulating activity are not being addressed under this legislation.

See this speech in context