Housing Provision
Dail Éireann — 2026-10-01
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Brian Stanley (IND), Laois

The Minister saw the good-quality houses in Dargan Woods. The council exceeded the Government's target by nearly 250%. The Government needs to increase its targets for both affordable and cost-rental housing. There have been a huge number of inquiries. Cost rental is the only option for a lot of workers and households. People aged in their 40s, 50s and 60s may have broken relationships or be separated. They cannot get a loan due to their age and do not qualify for a council house because of their income. Low-paid workers in their 20s, 30s and 40s who are above the limit but are unable to get a mortgage to buy a home need to be helped with cost rental. We cannot condemn them to a full lifetime, including their pension years, in private rental accommodation. That is not fair in a balanced society.
Some of us advocated for the cost-rental scheme ten years ago when it was not on the radar. Others have come to it now, which I welcome. It removes the profit element and is a sustainable model. The finance is repaid and there is no long-term hit for the State. It is a good scheme and provides good-quality housing. People will say many such units are apartments or small houses. I lived in a 56 sq. m house. It was fine. It did the job for the 12 years I lived in it. People refer to small houses in Drimnagh, Cabra or wherever else. We do not want to go backwards. Modern houses can be compact and still meet people's needs.
We need to provide affordable and cost-rental housing at scale. That is the message I am trying to convey. The Government needs to increase its targets. It also needs to reduce prices. The Government needs to dust down the Kelly report, or produce another report, and implement it in order to reduce land costs and bring down the price of housing.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-10-01/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-10-05T01:01:00+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-10-01