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

As I mentioned before when referring to housing, approximately 18,000 new homes were built in Ireland last year, including houses and apartments.

We expect 22,000 or more to be built this year, and many of those new homes and apartments are affordable. They are not designated as such under an affordable scheme, but they are affordable. There are counties in Ireland, particularly outside of Dublin, where the average house price is €100,000 or €120,000. I accept that that is not the case in Dublin or in other urban areas, but there are large parts of the country where housing is affordable. Dublin and some urban areas are different and that is why we need a dedicated affordable housing scheme.

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