Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy has asked a slightly different question to the one that was tabled. I will respond to his comments. We are now working with the Housing Agency to put together an independent audit of build cost. The Deputy has requested that for some time and of course it makes sense to do it. I do not think we should rely on the Chartered Surveyors of Ireland, even though the report it compiled has contributed to the debate. It factored in over €60,000 of site value, a profit of 15% and so on. We need to have a genuinely independent process. The Chartered Surveyors of Ireland did an interesting job but we need to be seen to have an independent assessment of build cost that includes everything in order that we might have a benchmark to measure against in terms of our discussions on the cost of building and what is an affordable house and what is a reasonable price to expect in different parts of the country. We can then factor in land costs, etc., on top of that. We need to benchmark against the cost of building houses in other parts of Europe.

For example, we need to look at the costs of concrete in Ireland compared with other parts of Europe, which is a fair ask. That process is very much under way and has been for about one month.

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