Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputy for his follow-up question. When one looks at the rental information we have and the rent index produced by the Residential Tenancies Board, it is crazy that in many parts, particularly the capital city but also in Cork, someone's rent might be more expensive than a mortgage. That is why we brought through, as quickly as we could, the recent rent Bill to moderate rents even further and to extend rent pressure zones. It is also why we have other initiatives to help people to put together a deposit for a home and help people to buy, including the Rebuilding Ireland home loan. The Deputy will be aware of all the schemes now in place for supporting home ownership.

On St. Michael's Estate, my commitment has not changed at all. It has not changed in regard to the vision we have for cost rental there. The Deputy mentioned his colleague, Senator Ardagh. I am not clear she supports the project because it was not clear when she turned up at the event we held. There has been a significant engagement with the local residents. They are in no doubt about how matters are progressing.

Dublin City Council has appointed a project manager for the St. Michael's site. There is an Inchicore regeneration consultative forum. We have appointed professionals for the design aspect of the site. We have also appointed Mr. Jack Nolan to carry out a wider scoping exercise for the area. We have meetings under way with the European Investment Bank, as I have mentioned, and I have been out of the site on a number of occasions to meet local stakeholders and local community representatives, as well as to look at some of the ancillary things we need to do on the site in so far as the community is concerned. It is a question of making sure that, as we build all these great new homes and bring in all the people to live in them, there are appropriate facilities.

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