I want to read an email into the record of the House. It is reflective of emails, calls and messages I receive every week. It reads as follows:

I work in the tech industry, and at 35, I'm renting a bedroom in a house with 4 other working professionals.

I've given up on hoping that the housing disaster here will improve, so I've had it approved by the company I work for and will be emigrating. My colleagues are now making similar requests.

I'm just writing to let you know of a reality that many working professionals my age deal with. Now with the Irish Independent reporting that house building will slow down due to costs, unless the state gets involved and builds affordable apartments and houses, there will be a brain drain in this country as we are in no position to lay roots and start families here. My only hope in sending this is to get your understanding how serious this problem is for so many.

Thank you for reading,

- Owen

What can be done for Owen and so many more like him across the country?

I thank Deputy Grealish for sharing that experience. I do get it. That is why I gave the answer I did to Deputy Berry earlier in respect of the housing issue. We have to do everything we possibly can at every level to build more houses and to build them more quickly. That is what we are going to do. A range of measures has been introduced, including Croí Cónaithe, Project Tosaigh, which relates to affordable housing, the cost-rental schemes and tax credits of €1,000 last year and €500 this year, which are an interim measure that people like Owen can avail of to reduce their rental costs. We built 29,000 houses last year, the highest number in a long time. We intend to build more. We are now looking at mechanisms to counter the consequences of the inflationary spiral of the last 12 months in order to reach the targets we set ourselves for 2023.