Peter Burke (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I hear the views expressed. There will be a review and the Government will take action if there are unintended consequences or if some of the developments articulated come to fruition.

I was very lucky in life to have been elected to the local council in 2009. In the period 2009 to 2012, I remember sitting in the council chamber and so many of my colleagues being so frustrated with the director of housing and director of finance. They asked the director of housing why houses were not being bought, saying houses were available for €40,000 to €50,000 in Mullingar. There were three-bedroom, semi-detached houses representing incredible value. One could not contemplate building them for that amount. The director would rightly respond the council was saturated in debt and did not have the capacity to purchase.I mentioned in this House before that Westmeath and Dublin city were piloted for the mortgage to rent scheme because all the affordable houses and mortgages offered at the time were unsustainable. The whole system had no capacity. There were thousands of ghost estates. When the Senator mentions local authorities building houses, she should note my party absolutely believes in local authorities building houses. When people make contributions, they should note that the facts do not back up the case that we are not building houses. From 2012, we have increased social housing supply by 300%. I refer to direct-build housing. We have built 34,000 social homes since 2016. I want to be very clear about that; that is the record. I acknowledge that it is not enough and that there are thousands on social housing waiting lists who are frustrated. Families I deal with every Monday morning in my clinic are very frustrated that everybody cannot be accommodated but we are trying. We did try very hard and we did reduce the social housing list by upwards of 30%. When Senators are making contributions, they should always note the State was locked out of the markets and that borrowing meant an interest rate of 14% or more. The State had no capacity to deliver social housing or embark on a capital programme. We have to be clear on that. We are picking up the pieces.

By any reasonable analysis, two thirds of construction workers have left. We see this after Covid. I was at a site last week in my home town where the builder was saying that if I had the money for him to double the output, there would be a huge challenge because the skills he needs do not currently exist to meet the capacity. That is why we are trying to bring more apprentices into the market. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy Harris, is working so hard to deliver on that and to increase our capacity to deliver at scale.

Working with the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, I, as Minister of State, am so committed to delivering high-quality, social and affordable homes. It is not about ideology; it is about homes for families on the ground who so badly need them right now.