Sorry-----

If the rest of you could start telling us how to fill in the gaps and get to the €20 billion-----

No, you will not do it happily.

All the Opposition does is to say "No" to everything.

I would welcome an engagement with the Deputy on housing-----

-----but please, less of the misrepresentation.

I was talking about what the Deputy said to me.

With the greatest of respect, Deputy, you had an opportunity to go into government but you did not show up.

Yesterday, the housing subcommittee of the Cabinet met. We made some concrete decisions in respect of housing. There will be an additional €450 million of funding to build a further 3,000 affordable and social homes, and cost rental accommodation. We made the decision to establish a strategic housing activation office, as recommended by the Housing Commission, of which the Deputy is fond. That was decided and that is what we are doing. In addition, we have agreed the first revision of the national planning framewor…

The county development plans will allow us to reach, or give us a fighting chance of reaching, the targets identified by the ESRI.

As I said earlier, yesterday the Government took a number of key decisions on the national planning framework, which is key - I hope the Deputy agrees – and will lead to more zoning of land which is important given the numbers of houses that we have to build in the coming years. We approved an additional €450 million for 3,400 social, cost rental and affordable homes. In excess of €6 billion has been allocated for housing in State expenditure for 2025. We need about €20 billion to get to 50,000 per annum. That is t…

They might be doing it in the best interests of housing but you cannot say one thing and then have it both ways, as Deputy Ó Broin has been doing serially. I will look at that and I will discuss with the Deputy mechanisms around utilising that €160 billion he spoke about and how we release more private sector capital into housing. That is what I have been saying since this Government was formed. That is what I have been condemned for, by the Deputy's colleagues and others, but it is a simple truism. The State will …

First of all, I would say that the volume of new homes built in the past five years represents the highest level of delivery since 2008 - almost two decades ago. That is a fact, but it is not enough. I never mentioned section 23 relief. In the past month, I never mentioned it. I repeat I was in government for the past four and a half years. Decisions were taken. Brownfield sites have not moved to the degree that they should. You can keep your heads in the sand all you like but we are going to have to work-----

-----on how we activate brownfield sites because they make sense. At present, we are being told, they are not viable. At present, the apartment building is not happening, in particular in cities, to the degree that is necessary to give people a chance of either owning an apartment or renting an apartment at an affordable rate. We want to give opportunities to young people-----

-----to either rent or to buy at affordable rates. That is our agenda.

First of all, the Deputy is referring to the publication of the Commission on the Regulation of Utilities large energy users connection policy minded-to decision paper. It is a mouthful, but it is an important document. It is not as the Deputy has described it, by the way. I think a lot of people on the industrial side might see a bit of progress in this but it will take a lot of detailed reading. It seems to me that the hard left in this country - the Deputy represents that - decided some time ago that data centre…

Are we saying we do not want to participate in the AI revolution? The AI revolution is the most profound economic revolution currently occurring since the 19th century industrial revolution. It is, but it has a problem.

AI uses enormous amounts of energy. That is a problem. The US says it will be fossil fuels. The French say it will be nuclear power. Ireland will have wind energy but there will be a gap in between. When the wind starts to flow - offshore wind in particular - we hope there will 5 GW by 2030 and more in 2031 and 2032. We cannot shut the door on data centres in an absolutist way, which is what the Deputy is essentially proposing. We would damage our economy if we did that. It would damage workers in particular and th…

We need to solve the problems that the data centres throw up, and they do throw up challenges.

Sorry?