Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The type of development to which the Deputy has referred probably accounts for less than 1% of the new homes being built in the country at the moment. There could be as few as half a dozen developments of this type this year and next year. It is important to put this in context. The type of housing may be a choice for some people. We live in a country that has an increasing population, which is a good thing. Our population is approaching 5 million, if it has not reached that level already. We live in a country where new households are being formed all the time. As people get married and start families, they need their own homes. We also live in a country where there was almost no construction activity for seven years. As a result, there is an overhang of demand for housing that was not met for a long period. In my view and in the Government's view, we need new housing of all different types and sorts, and lots of it. We need social housing for people who are on the housing list, many of whom have been on that list for far too long.

We need new homes for people to buy because the vast majority of people still want to be able to own their own home, and indeed 70% do. We need new places for people to rent involving cost rental models and private models. The solution does not lie in any particular model, whether it is State or private sector. It is going to require all of those things - State-led development, private sector-led development, and co-operation between the State and the private sector. That is how we will produce the volume of additional housing that we need in Ireland to cater for the demand that built up during those seven years and the new demand that arises every year.

We are making some real progress. Last year 18,000 new homes, comprising houses and apartments, were built in Ireland, which is the highest number in a decade. We know from figures released by the Central Statistics Office, CSO, in recent days that new home building is up another 25% this year so far. We will certainly see somewhere between 22,000 and 25,000 new homes being built in Ireland this year. We need to go higher again the year after and higher again the year after that, but it is simply not the case that there was ever a Government policy or measure that could get us from a situation where only 4,000 or 5,000 homes were being built in Ireland to 35,000 in a year or two. We have to do it in the only way that it can be done, in a stepwise manner, rebuilding the construction industry and rebuilding the social housing programme. That is what is being done. Last year, for example, around 8,500 new homes were added to the social housing stock-----

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