Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

The report from the Department of Finance is not a projection. It looks at over 2,000 scenarios on a no-change policy basis. The Minister, Deputy Donohoe, was very clear yesterday that we are changing policy on an ongoing basis when it comes to infrastructure and housing, and we have more to do. We have a new housing plan being published in the coming weeks. We will have significant infrastructure reforms being published in the coming weeks, all to enable greater delivery of more homes and more infrastructure right across our economy. That is why it is important that we have that broad examination of the various economic and fiscal scenarios. It helps to set out the broader choices that we have as a Government and, indeed, as an Oireachtas around the risks which will crystalise. We know the trends on deglobalisation and how they will impact our wider long-term economic growth. We know the impacts when it comes to digitalisation and also the upside of that, if we can embrace that in the public service and also across all elements of the economy.

When it comes to housing delivery, if you look at the national development plan, you will see that next year we will have over €11 billion between current and capital spending for the Department of housing, which is a significant increase in overall spending to deliver more social and affordable homes. That mix of funding will be set out in the new national housing plan to really drive the delivery of more homes for families and people across our country.

It is not just about what the State is spending and allocating to housing. That is why when we bring forward measures, like the Minister, Deputy Browne, did yesterday on enabling private sector input in wastewater treatment plants, for example, what we heard from the Labour Party was total negativity.

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