Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

The Taoiseach will not be surprised that I want to raise the housing element of the national reform programme. One of the issues that should now set alarm bells ringing is that the construction sector in this country is starting to contract. As inadequate a plan as Housing for All is, and it is wholly inadequate and does not address the crisis, even it may not now be delivered as we are starting to see a contraction in construction because of rising costs. How will the Government respond to that?

We have a developed policy proposal because we cannot afford not to address the housing crisis and deliver on building the public, affordable and other houses that we need. If costs are going to stop the private sector from building, as is now becoming evident, we need a State construction company. We simply cannot not build public and affordable housing. We cannot allow a contraction of construction activity. The State will have to step in where the market in not capable of delivering. What does the Taoiseach say to that?

See this speech in context