Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Auto-enrolment, of course, is something that is to be welcomed and, in fact, I said in my contribution which the Taoiseach must have missed.

However, it was also reported in the Irish Independent that a confidential Cabinet memorandum stated that the new auto-enrolment pension scheme is particularly important because an increasing number of older people will need sufficient income to meet rental costs during their retirement years. Can the Taoiseach confirm that this is the purpose? This matters. Currently, there is a generation of people who are struggling just to keep their heads above water because of the cost of housing, particularly rental housing. They are the same people who will be asked to pay the auto-enrolment and who, when it comes to their pension, will then pay to keep a roof over their heads because they have not been able to purchase. The two things are linked.

Yes, we need more delivery and supply, but it must be affordable. History has a habit of repeating itself if we do not learn lessons from it. Looking at the 80,000 houses built during the Celtic tiger years, where did that deliver affordability?

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