Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

Yes. It is very significant, yet people just quote a figure from one of the four schemes, and there is no need to do that. Senator Bannon spoke about prices. The 200 or so houses we got as part of the Harcourt Square land swap — I do not know if they are all sold yet — were selling just a few weeks ago at prices of €142,000 for two-bedroom homes and €172,000 for three-bedroom homes. This is in Dublin. Of course there is a clawback involved, but that does not matter if one is looking for a home. We hear of all these average prices, which mean nothing because they are average prices of very expensive homes. There are homes out there for first-time buyers. Indeed, many first-time buyers do not even bother with our affordable homes because they feel they can make a normal purchase.

Last year we provided 2,900 affordable homes and over the next three years we expect the total will reach approximately 15,000, an average of 5,000 per year. We will not reach the figure of 5,000 this year, but I hope we might reach a figure of 3,500 to 4,000, perhaps 5,000 next year and maybe 5,500 the following year. That output will increase considerably, particularly as the output from Part V comes along. Earlier this year, we improved some of these schemes by increasing the income eligibility limits and the subsidy levels. Currently, we are further developing schemes in order to simplify and streamline arrangements.

There are affordable homes in many areas. Senator McCarthy spoke earlier about Clonakilty and I am grateful for his comments. I am sorry I will not accept the Labour Party motion but I thank Senator McCarthy for his comments and his support for those Clonakilty homes, because the Labour Party's would-be partners in Government have been acting disgracefully in this regard. The NESC report already referred to has shown that Clonakilty is the town in Munster with the highest house prices, yet the local Fine Gael representatives want to see them stay that way.