Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am sure the Deputy does not want to go back to having ghost estates, unfinished houses and builders going bust. There was previously very little regulation in this country over the amount of money that could be borrowed by builders. Loans of 100% were being made available and houses were then being sold on because of the profit that could be made on them. That all went bust, and Deputy Healy-Rae has evidence of it in his county, where there were ghost estates and unfinished houses before the sector collapsed. The same rules cannot be applied today. It is different and it must be so because we will not go back to that situation. That means that builders looking to get into the business of developing houses must have a basic level of capacity to obtain credit themselves because they will not be able to borrow 100% from banks. That requirement was brought in because of what happened. How many hundreds of thousands of young people looking for houses were left in the lurch because builders went wallop and because of the lending processes? If we are to build houses now, we will build them in a proper fashion, which will be overseen, so that people can have affordable houses to live in. To help with this, the Minister has made available, with Government approval, a whole range of initiatives for builders to get back into business. I have heard what the Construction Industry Federation has said about this. If these targets are met, there will be an explosion in building, which will be very good, if properly monitored, and in the interest of thousands of people who can fulfil their aspirations to have a house. However, it will not be done in the way in which attempts were being made before. Times have changed.

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