Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the genuine points the Deputy has articulated. No local authority should be on the other side of this. Let that message go out loud and clear from Government. No local authority should be on the other side of this, engaging in a long lease with these institutional investors in that estate. A limited degree of leasing has some importance, but leasing over the long term does not represent great value for money. That is why we are building 9,500 social houses this year out of 12,750 social houses overall. That is why we want to build 50,000 social houses by way of direct build over the next five years. That is the overall commitment of the Government. That is where the main focus of Government construction will be in the coming period.

We will deal with the swoop-in by that institutional investor, which is not acceptable. Previous Governments facilitated the arrival here of investors with the good intention of trying to get some investment into the high-density rental market, particularly in Dublin, when capital was scarce. It was never intended that that would facilitate competing with first-time buyers on a suburban housing estate. That was never the intention and it will be dealt with. Government will ensure that is disincentivised and not facilitated.

Obviously, the Minister for Finance will meet his team this afternoon to discuss this matter. He will also engage with colleagues across government on this development. Government wants to give people the chance to be able to afford to buy their own homes through a number of schemes. We also want to make sure that we build the largest social housing programme in the history of the State to ensure that people who cannot afford to buy houses get houses at rents they can afford. The cost rental scheme is another mechanism that will also enable people to get access to homes.

Last year, just over 20,000 houses were provided in the entire country, of which approximately 8,000 were social houses. We do not have a thriving private market in this economy. Sinn Féin keeps going on about it and keeps on inventing the same old slogans and the same rhetoric. However, it is simply rhetoric at this stage because the bulk of housing construction at the moment is being driven by the State in a variety of shapes and forms. That will continue to be the case for quite some time to come.

The key point is this. I accept the basic principle of what the Deputy is saying that what happened in Maynooth is not acceptable. It is not something we want to see happening in this country. We want those housing estates reserved for people who wish to buy houses and for AHBs.

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