Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Deputies for the wide range of issues. First, I assure Deputy Barry that the Tánaiste is anything but a quiet man. I have no doubt but that he will give the issue of the water supply and what the Deputy states is a lack of public trust in the water supply his absolute attention. I certainly will follow the matter up with both Uisce Éireann and the Minister for housing. I am happy to come back to Deputy Barry on that issue.

In response to Deputy Ó Murchú, I am clear that there is much more we need to do when it comes to housing but in saying that, I am also very clear there are other important things to say too. We are now building social housing at a rate and pace that we have not seen in this country since the 1970s. In my lifetime, we have never been building social housing at the scale we now are. We have more to do. We need to revise our targets. I have certainly outlined my own view on the level of ambition I think we need to get to between 2025 and 2030. We need to deliver between now and the end of the decade.

We have a way to go on affordable housing but we can now point to positive and significant increases year on year. I remember when my party came to government for the first time in this cycle in 2011, there were fewer than 7,000 homes built in Ireland that year. Last year, more than 30,000 homes were built and this year, I believe we are on track to break our targets again in terms of exceeding delivery. We will continue, no doubt, to debate housing, quite rightly as we should, and how we best deliver it for our people. When we take the politics out of it I know that is what everybody in the House does want to do.

Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan spoke about the World Rally Championship. I have a note on this but it is in my office and I do not have it with me. I am very well aware of the work the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and the Minister, Deputy Catherine Martin, have been doing on this issue. It appears that it may not be a possibility for the next world rally but I am very clear that this is something Ireland is extremely interested in making happen. It is very important there is intensive engagement, as I know there will be and as the Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, and the Minister, Deputy Martin, wish there to be. I am taken by the point Deputy O'Sullivan made about the benefits of such sporting events to regional and rural Ireland and the spin-off benefits that he clearly articulated in terms of small businesses such as cafes and the hospitality sector. I will get a written update on it for the Deputy shortly.

I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for highlighting the National Youth Council of Ireland's report, which outlines the level of frustration, angst, disappointment and concern young people feel about their housing prospects. On one level, the Government cannot be surprised by it because it is the biggest societal issue faced by young people. What I would say to those young people is they are now back living in a country where, year on year, the number of homes being built is massively increasing, as is the composition and diversity of those homes in terms of social, affordable and private to-purchase homes. There are a number of schemes in place and we have different views on them and that is okay. We have put in place a number of schemes to try to help people get some of their own money back towards a deposit. We certainly intend to keep these schemes in place. I sincerely thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising some of the anomalies with regard to the housing assistance payment. He put it quite well. I will take a look at it and speak to the Ministers for housing and social protection on this situation.

To respond to Deputy Paul Murphy, we have not yet taken a formal decision on the waiver. I expect us to take a decision on it very shortly. It has not yet come to government. Deputy Murphy and I have differing views on it and I respect that, but it is my position that I would like to see it continue. I see it as a measure that reduces the cost of building and, therefore, helps to stimulate supply. I hope that the commencement figures which are out later this week, on Thursday I believe, will begin to show the real impact it is having. I do not think it is a case of either-or. We need to provide a whole variety of housing. There are people in my constituency who require and should have social housing. There are people who want an affordable starter home. Many of those kids living in the box rooms have mums and dads who want them to be able to buy a house. I do not think, respectfully, and we will have these debates, that we should ask whether it is social and public or private. It needs to be both.

Deputy Conway-Walsh has just handed the Mayo pyrite families document to me. I will look at it with the Minister for housing and I will revert to her directly.

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