James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

-----being put forward and no solutions, with the exception, in fairness, of Deputy Hearne. As I have stated before, the Department of housing has asked the Department of Finance to look at a Livret A-type scheme and I have read the Deputy's proposals.

There are challenges in this regard. It is not something that can be stepped up immediately but it is something we are looking at seriously.

We must get houses and apartments built, whether to rent or for sale. We need that mix. We have a viability issue in this country. We are taking rapid measures to get the viability going. On the other side of that, the most important thing is affordability. The only way we will address homelessness and high rents and ensure people have homes to live in is by taking the necessary measures to ensure we get those homes built. That will enable people to move out of box rooms and into their own homes.

All the theories written down will not provide a single home in which people can live. The only thing that will do so is action. That is what I am doing as Minister, with the backing of the Government. We have introduced a series of measures I believe will address the housing crisis we are facing in this country. They are measures that are absolutely essential to be made. All the hyperbole across the floor will not build a single house.

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