Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

The short answer to my question is that not a single unit will be delivered this year for affordable rental or affordable purchase under any Government scheme. While I welcome the commitment with regard to St. Michael's estate, the cost rental pilot has been in the pipeline since Deputy Alan Kelly was Minister. Not only has the pilot in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown not been delivered, but we hear the homes will not be made available at an affordable rate. The Minister referred to funding of €25 million. Surely it would have been straightforward to put the scheme in place at the start of this year. The scheme has not been established and there have been no discussions about it with the joint committee.

On the €750 million to be provided through Home Building Finance Ireland, the relevant legislation was only published this week and will take some time to get through the House. As such, the funding will not become available until next year at the earliest. Probably worst of all is the position in respect of the local infrastructure housing activation fund, for which the Minister has given us figures. The average price of a LIHAF house on private land in Dublin is €318,000 based on 2017 prices. Given that these houses will not be ready for two years, we may factor in house price inflation of between 10% and 20%. Similar, albeit slightly lower, figures apply in the rest of the country and there are no guarantees that housing built on public land will be affordable.

The Minister keeps telling us about future announcements and projects but we do not have any clear sense of homes being delivered at prices of between €170,000 and €260,000, which is the level of genuine affordability.

There is no commitment in regard to delivery this year. Will the Minister commit to the delivery of genuinely affordable rental or purchase homes in 2019?

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