Ceisteanna ó Cheannairí - Leaders' Questions
Dail Éireann — 2026-01-15
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Brian Stanley (IND), Laois

I thank the Minister for his reply. He quoted different sets of figures from the CSO. I am quoting figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Yes, it has to be a priority, but the Government needs to scale up the delivery of cost rental and affordable to buy for that wedge of people, workers and families, who are caught just above the threshold for social housing but below the level of income that would make getting a mortgage achievable . One of the things I would say to the Minister, and I have said it to successive Ministers for housing, is that we need to reduce the bureaucracy around the construction of social, affordable and cost-rental housing. We need to work to standard plans. This is how the big developers are doing it. They are doing it and they are selling the houses like hot buns. There is no problem with that. People do not mind if their house in Laois looks the same as a house in Cork. The Department insisting on councils starting with a blank canvas for every scheme is not the way to go because it is costly, with architects' fees, etc., and it slows the production of houses. We need to mass-produce affordable to-buy and cost-rental housing. That is the message I am giving the Minister today. It will save money and time and it will get people housed.
We need to house those people who are squeezed in that middle cohort.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-01-15/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:54:30+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-01-15