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

There were 31,000 starts last year. I accept and am glad the Deputy acknowledged the need for private sector investment. It does need to be constrained. We have already brought in planning constraints on funds in terms of housing estates and being able to bulk buy. They cannot do so. From a taxation perspective and a planning position, that has happened. In terms of apartment building, there has been a huge issue for some time in terms of the whole issue around viability of apartment building. The daft.iereport and the BNP Paribas report state that, basically, if that funding was not available, those apartments would never have been built in the first place. We have an issue with apartments - there is no question about that - in terms of viability, particularly in terms of brownfield sites and trying to get compact living. That is all part of Housing for All and that is why the Croí Cónaithe fund is being established - to see if the State can help in terms of creating viability and affordability in that apartment sector. That is clearly a challenge but, again, let us be clear that we have to be very careful we do not inhibit supply even more in terms of just responding to the short-term issues.

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