Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with my colleague, Senator Kieran O'Donnell, on the need for a debate on housing. We need to have a genuine debate on the way forward. There are many challenges for people who are on the housing lists in local authorities. There are also challenges for people who are caught between not qualifying for the local authority housing list and being unable to buy. We need to seriously look at that area.

There is good news. Last night, Cork City Council approved the building of 112 new apartments and development work to open a site for the building of more than 600 affordable and social houses in my area. I welcome the decision by the council to approve 712 units in one night.

We have challenges. This year, we will build 20,000 new houses, which means we are turning out 385 new houses per week. We need to bring that figure up to around 700 houses per week over the next two or three years. That process will take time. With 385 houses currently being delivered each week, I am sure that by this time next year 500 new houses will be completed or brought into use each week and that level of output will continue for the next few years. We need to assist people, in particular those who are not on local authority housing lists and are unable to borrow to buy a home. We need to facilitate that group either with affordable housing or by providing for secure long-term letting and a far better rental system than we current have. We should debate this matter at an early date.