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

If the Minister brings proposals to the committee we will work constructively with him on them. We have been told, for example, that 550 affordable homes would be delivered in the Poolbeg strategic development zone. The Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government was helpful in assisting Dublin City Council and councillors in the community in getting that target. However, I am told by the residents that there is no clarity as to whether these houses will be genuinely affordable. In other words, will they be priced at somewhere between €170,000 and €260,000? The concern is that the benchmark in Dublin of €320,000 will become the Government's definition of affordability, which even with the Rebuilding Ireland home loan scheme is not going to be accessible because, as we know from the figures we have today, people looking to buy homes through that loan scheme cannot get sufficient loans. Does the Government believe affordable rental or purchase homes will be delivered next year? If the answer is "No", the Minister needs to say that and tell us they will be delivered the following year.

A sum of €25 million has been made available for Ó Cualann-type developments. We know the specifics of the Ó Cualann scheme. We needed only to issue a direction to the local authorities in Dublin on the basis of existing legislation and that money could have been used this year. The Minister is telling us now that he intends to engage with us on the matter and that, perhaps, something will happen before the end of the year. This means the money announced for expenditure this year will not be spent until next year. When will affordable rental and purchase homes be delivered and at what price will those two forms of housing be delivered?

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