Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

If we adopt Sinn Féin policy, the supply of new homes will fall. At the moment, we need at least €13 billion to €14 billion of capital to build in excess of 30,000 homes a year. The State is providing €4 billion to €5 billion of that. We are likely, over the period ahead, to revise upwards the housing targets in Housing For All. That will mean much more capital is needed, perhaps up to €20 billion a year, on average, over the next number of years to build the homes that we need. Sinn Féin is seeking to create an environment that is unfriendly to that investment, that will result in that investment stalling, and that will, ultimately, impact on the supply of homes.

Ireland is an outlier in that construction is increasing. Looking across the EU, in most countries construction is falling but in Ireland it is increasing because the demand is there and because the Government is working collaboratively with the private sector to create the right conditions to inject real momentum into home building, both houses and apartments, throughout this country. We will continue to do that until we bring supply more closely into alignment with demand. Ultimately, that is how we will deal with the issue of rising rents.

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