Micheál Carrigy (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Higgins made a few comments. The reality is that in the early 2010s we were precluded from purchasing houses and leasing was the most cost-effective way to provide them at the time. For us to develop or build housing, we need investors and we need people to develop it. It is the same in Longford as it is in Wicklow. It is a mixture of local authority housing plus private investment to make sure that we deliver the housing we have proposed. The Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, provided some figures earlier today. Between 2016 and 2021, we, as a party that was in government, were criticised for not reaching the housing target we proposed but we actually went over that target and built 39,000 houses. It is a mixture of private and local authority housing. We need developers and investors to deliver housing.