Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

IBEC's latest housing report states that the availability of affordable housing in Ireland, be it home ownership or rental properties, is becoming a critical barrier to continued growth and development of business investment. Every time we raise the need for the Government to increase public housing targets, Ministers and even the Taoiseach level the false arguments that the Opposition is opposed to home ownership. IBEC has called on the Government to set a more ambitious target for local authorities and approved housing bodies through delivery of social cost-rental and affordable homes with a target of 20,000 units each year before the end of the decade with greater delivery of affordable and cost-rental units.

Both domestic enterprise and international investors agree that there is an urgent need for an accelerated delivery of public homes and affordable homes. Last year, Deputies Ó Laoghaire, Buckley and I were part of a delegation including Government Deputies and Senators. Even the Minister, Deputy Michael McGrath, was there. IBEC in Cork outlined the consequences of the housing crisis. We were told of companies which had been looking to set up and invest in Cork but left because of the housing crisis. Does the Taoiseach agree with IBEC's recommendation that we need to increase the public housing target to 20,000 annually?

See this speech in context