Pearse Doherty (Donegal, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We discovered during the election period that many of the Minister's colleagues, maybe himself included, went out and argued that there were going to be 40,000 houses delivered last year, which we know was a big lie because the Department of Finance had provided an assessment to the then Minister before the election that that was not possible. Indeed, there was a risk of fewer being built than in the previous year, which is what actually transpired.

The Central Bank is pouring cold water on and disputing the Government's housing projections for the next three years. It believes that the Government will deliver 13,000 fewer homes than projected over the next three years. The Government is trying to justify measures whereby banks should lend to developers where developers have less skin in the game themselves. The Central Bank has come out and poured cold water on that.

Surely the Minister, as Minister for Finance, is engaging with the Central Bank on this matter or is his Cabinet colleague doing a solo run? Double-digit price inflation is back for the first time in eight years. It was 11.6% last year. There is a role for the Central Bank in controlling inflation.

It is reported that the Minister is to meet the banks concerning this idea about less equity from builders and more lending by banks. Is that actually on the cards?

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