Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----given the prowess of its club, which I know only too well. However, it is a problem. We need to engage again with Irish Water in respect of the allocation of funding for the future with a view to saying that it is not just the bigger cities we want prioritised and that we want towns and villages looked after in the context of wastewater treatment plants. There is a consequential benefit for water quality and a range of other issues.

The zoning of land is important. Some lands are zoned but they simply cannot be developed because of the absence of any enabling infrastructure, such as that relating to wastewater or roads, or because some of the lands in question are not serviced. I believe that, potentially, more zoning should happen to facilitate increased housing targets. The targets we currently have are not ceilings. We exceeded last year's target and we will exceed this year's target in terms of house completions. Supply is the key issue affecting house prices. We need more houses available for people at affordable prices. We accept that we have to do it at a higher scale. Under this Government, we have moved from 20,000 houses built in 2020 to nearly 40,000 being built by the end of this year. That is nearly a doubling of housing output, notwithstanding the interruption of one and a half to two years caused by Covid. However, we need to get from 40,000 houses per annum to 60,000. We can only do that with enabling infrastructure and water is a key element of that. I take on board what the Deputy said.

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