Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, convey my sympathies, the sympathies of the Fine Gael Party and, indeed, the sympathies of the House to the families who have suffered loss as a result of the tragedy in Donegal. It is very difficult on everyone in the local community and it is a huge loss of so many young lives in one event. It is a really tragic accident that occurred. Our thoughts are with each and every one of the families and their immediate friends and relations at this time.

I wish to talk about statistics as the housing statistics for 2018 have just been released. They indicate that there has been a substantial increase in the number of new builds over the past 12 months. There is an annual increase in output of over 31%, and this is the highest number of houses built since 2009. The corner has been turned in terms of building new houses, which is welcome at a time when many people are in need of houses and are anxious to acquire their own homes. Another interesting fact is that more than 6,272 houses were completed in the last quarter of 2018, which is a 37% increase year on year. If that trend continues, and I hope it will, then more than 25,000 new houses will be built in 2019. Likewise, substantial progress has been made with local authority builds. Again, it is thanks to all of the local authorities and their members for making sure that targets are set and achieved.

However, we must still consider long-term planning for the people who are caught in a situation where it will be difficult for them to borrow on their income and yet they do not qualify for a place on a local authority housing list. As I have mentioned time and again, there is a need for long-term planning for the rental accommodation market. If I lease a commercial premises I will get a 20 year lease, a five-year rent review and I will be responsible for internal repairs and maintenance. We should consider and develop the rental market in the same way as has been done throughout Europe. We need a mindset change on this issue because people move around much more with their jobs and the expectation of remaining in the one place for 20, 30 or 40 years has changed substantially. We need to discuss the issue here and I hope that it will be on the agenda the next time that the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government is in the House to deal with housing matters.