Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Supply is part of the issue in this regard. As the third year of Rebuilding Ireland draws to a close, supply is certainly on the up. We should see more than 22,000 houses come into the system this year. Many of these will be in County Louth because many houses are being delivered in the greater Dublin region. That will help.

We are also intervening to make houses more affordable through a number of schemes. One such scheme is the help-to-buy scheme, which helps people to get their deposits together. This was not mentioned in the recent report which we have been discussing for the last couple of days. We have also provided the home loan, which the Deputy mentioned. Many people qualify, including many of those in the most difficulty. We are supporting infrastructure on a number of sites in order to open up lands and make houses more affordable. State-owned lands are being managed by the Land Development Agency in conjunction with local authorities. There are some large sites in Louth on which it would be very useful to develop projects that would deliver private, affordable and social housing. There is a lot of opportunity in Louth in that regard.

We are also addressing affordability in other ways because we recognise that it is an issue. The number one item on the agenda in creating Rebuilding Ireland was to increase housing supply through a sustainable construction sector. That is now happening. As we work through the third year of the plan there is time to intervene with affordability measures. That is what we are trying to do and that will have an impact. Analysis of first-time buyers last year will show that 70% of housing units were sold for less than €270,000. Nearly 50% were sold for less than €250,000. For most people who are working that is just about affordable. It is always difficult. We recognise that. We will continue to intervene to make houses even more affordable.

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