Aidan Davitt (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I did not interrupt the Senator. I know she is worried about trying to win back her seat in the Dáil. Costs have increased dramatically and there is only one way to reduce them. Even if we do not want to take a chance and talk about developers, money and all the rest, we should seek to reduce the cost of social housing.Social housing involves a set cost. Builders can provide such housing. When Westmeath County Council redeveloped the Ennell Court estate recently, it cost €200,000, less VAT, to renovate some of the houses. That is crazy when one considers that the council got the sites for nothing. The figures do not add up. That is why builders are not engaging. There is also the fact that the banks are not supporting them. We need to get our heads out of the sand. That is the reality. We are all here to work on this together. We supported Fine Gael with similar proposals on a previous occasion. There will have to be a serious rethink in respect of a reduction in VAT as the only way forward on this issue.