Simon Harris (Wicklow, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

These all dominate the Cabinet committee on the economy but, these are all, nonetheless, serious issues and I do not doubt that. I am just still getting used to where the questions start and where the issues go but I will do my best on these issues.

First, in reply to Deputy Barry, and my now weekly exchange in what is a genuinely serious issue, I am nearly as invested in the issue as he is at this stage because he has brought it to my attention on quite a few times. I passed on the letter and I thank him for acknowledging that. I have also written a follow-up letter to the CEO asking that I be kept informed on the next steps. On a serious point, I will push for a timeline. I am not a spokesperson for Uisce Éireann but my understanding is that it is not talking about decades before there are solutions but to just give people an honest view of the scale of work that will be required to replace the cast-iron pipe network. That is not to say that nothing is going to happen in the here and now and, indeed, in the interim. It is not an unfair point to ask for a continued timeline and I will pursue that. I welcome some of the work that has been done by Uisce Éireann and I get a sense from its correspondence that there is a high level of awareness on this.

I will make a broader point to both Deputies Barry and Murphy on the issue of raw sewerage in manholes in back gardens. It is a horrific situation. I see it in my own constituency from time to time also and it is an awful thing to happen. If there are children, pets or anything in the garden, it is an horrifically distressing situation for people.

It does all point to the need to invest a great deal more in the water network. We all agree on that, even if we might have debates on how best to do that. I am hopeful that the Government will be able to make some concrete decisions shortly to increase levels of public investment through Uisce Éireann in some basic infrastructure. How that gets played out in specific schemes will be a matter for Uisce Éireann but there is a real need to invest a hell of a lot more in our water and sewerage network as well and I will take away the points made by Deputy Murphy on Tallaght.

Turning to Deputy Ó Murchú, I thank him for raising the issue around BD. I assure the Deputy that the full State supports will be available. I will work with the Deputy and colleagues in Louth on this issue and my immediate thoughts, as I know are the Deputy's, are with the workers and their families. There is a broader conversation that we should and want to have on Drogheda and how we can continue to support it to be the enterprising town with employment that it wants to be. It is such a large town and wants to be a city. We are ambitious for it as well.

Turning to Deputy Boyd Barrett, while we will not have time for a full debate on affordable housing on this occasion, the Government has taken a number of actions to try to address the issue of affordability. I believe that supply, supply and supply is the key because I believe in demand and supply and I believe that as one increases supply, that has a positive effects on demand and, over time, on price. We have also brought in a number of schemes and incentives that help with the price somebody actually pays for the house, as opposed to the headline price, be they the help-to-buy or the first home schemes, as two examples. We obviously have social housing schemes where we have had the largest number of such houses given out last year since the 1970s. That can be seen them right across every county, including in Deputy Boyd Barrett's own county. We also have direct affordable housing schemes.

For example a three-bed duplex under a Government affordable housing scheme in the south County Dublin area that is available for €299,000. There is a three-bed home in Mulhuddart for €320,000 and a three-bed house in Kilbarry, Waterford for €284,000, which is a stone's throw away from our newest university. Nyne Park in Kilkenny has a three-bed home available from €255,000 and in the same city, Abbey Meadows has a four-bed home available for €284,000. Cork city's White Cross has three-bedroom homes available for €316,000. I give these as some examples because often outliers are referred to in this House but these are some examples of the affordable housing schemes we have in place.

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