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

Right across the board, the State is building the houses or contributing to affordability. We are not building enough houses. What I have noticed over the last two years is that the line of attack has been to pick one particular example or illustration and to endeavour to make it the norm in the narrative and presentation of how the housing situation stands. It is not that way at all, however. We need to be building 35,000 to 40,000 houses, in my view, at this stage. The population is going over 5 million, and is increasing. More than 70,000 people came into the country this year, with people returning home and coming here to work. We need more houses of all types. The attempts to exclude some will not help the overall effort.

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