Tim Lombard (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister and acknowledge his great efforts in this really important topic of housing. The delivery of affordable housing is one of the key issues in our society. This legislation before us is the most important piece regarding that in over a decade. I fully support it and compliment the Minister on it.

There are many issues when it comes to affordable housing. Affordability is probably the key issue. I will speak in a moment about the cost of housing.Supply is a key issue for us all. I welcomed the announcement by the Minister last week on Airbnb and his view that regulations should be introduced in that regard. Regulation will free up the supply. Supply is an issue in both urban and rural areas in my part of the world. On the urban side, large parts of Kinsale and Clonakilty have huge Airbnb properties that are soaking up the rental supply. In rural areas, there are houses occupied for three or four months of the year and vacant for the other eight. The big issue is that people who live locally cannot even get planning permission. They cannot even get access to the houses to which I refer. There is a major issue regarding supply.

I would like to talk about the cost of building a house. This is being lost in the debate at times. I did a bit of research a while ago and rang a few individuals. The cost per square foot of building a house today, including VAT, is around €184. That is exceptional. It should be taken into consideration. People were very blunt with me when I rang around. Irish Water could charge up to €8,000 per house. The building regulations that were introduced have led to increase after increase. Most houses now have heat pumps attached. The cost is €5,000 per pump. An air ventilation system is another €5,000 per house. The cost of insulation alone has gone up by 30% in the past six months. An average dwelling of roughly 2,000 sq. ft costs nearly €400,000, and that is without a site. This is the cost of building a house in today's environment. It is only increasing. Labour is a huge issue for our society. We cannot get labourers. Tradesmen are like gold dust. We are following the US model in so many ways. If one wants to make a fortune, one should become tradesmen. It could be said that we are a victim of our own success. Everyone wants to go to college. Tradesmen, plumbers, electricians-----