Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy will appreciate that we have to use an evidence-based approach, including looking at population growth, net inward migration, assumptions regarding housing obsolescence rates and household sizes, as informed by census data. Housing output went from 20,000 in 2021 to 34,000 this year. The Deputy will have to agree that is a significant trajectory upwards. That trajectory will continue. We cannot put a figure on it until we understand and delve into the research carried out by the ESRI. Targets are being bandied about of 50,000, 60,000 or 100,000 per annum, but it also requires capacity to be built into the system. We are looking at modern methods of construction and all of these elements combined. It is appropriate that we would be able to use this research to inform our decision-making and to inform and revise those targets in the autumn.

See this speech in context