The housing situation in Ireland is "a drag on" investment, but it is not possible to quantify the extent, the Tánaiste has said.
Leo Varadkar said when he meets investors thinking about investing in Ireland they do ask about infrastructure, including whether there is enough housing for workers, electricity and water.
"So, infrastructure is definitely a barrier to further growth in Ireland," he said.
"What they all tell me as well is that these are not necessarily problems unique to Ireland. They find these issues in California as well."
He said the issues are not such a problem that they have caused investment to go down, but it is definitely a concern.
He added that when it comes to housing, the big issue for him is not that it is a problem for big companies, but that it is a problem for citizens.
"So yes, it is an issue for enterprise policy, but when we try to fix the housing crisis in Ireland it is primarily about concerns for our own citizens as well," he said.
He added that the Government would do everything possible to address the housing crisis and use every policy lever available to it.
The Government would be focusing in the coming weeks on what it can do to accelerate the delivery of new housing, he claimed.
Mr Varadkar was speaking at the launch of the Government's new white paper on enterprise which realigns some policies and lays out a range of targets up to the end of the decade, including for foreign direct investment (FDI).
He said the pipeline for (FDI) is really strong for next year and while the tech sector is in retrenchment, there will be further investments in that area.
"But the announcements that we expect, particularly in life sciences and manufacturing, in the first and second quarter of next year are really, really strong," he said.
The Minister for Enterprise said that while he could not promise the level of FDI investment will continue to grow every year as it did last year, he does not see a major slowdown coming next year.
The Tánaiste said because there had been less spent on infrastructure following the financial crash and the population is increasing, as is the economy, the Government has had a lot to do to catch up on spending in that area.
He said the plans are all there and the money is there to address the deficits and now it is about "making it happen".
In relation to the possibility of further help for households with the rising cost of living through the use of bumper tax receipts, Mr Varadkar said there is a lot of money coming in and that is being used to help people.
He added that more help will be felt in the coming weeks, but in the New Year, before February when some of the supports are due to run out, the position will have to be reviewed.
"I think everyone understands that we can't extend all of those things, but at the same time with the cost of living so high I think some of that will have to be extended and we need to work that out in the New Year," he stated.
Regarding developments in Northern Ireland, Mr Varadkar said the Minister for Foreign Affairs is there today and is meeting the Secretary of State and party leaders.
He said it would be a great shame if we marked the 25th anniversary of the Good Friday Agreement next year without the institutions up and running.
He added that when it comes to any issues to do with Northern Ireland, the Government wants to hear the voice of Northern Ireland.
"And without the Assembly functioning there is nobody who can legitimately say that they speak for Northern Ireland," he claimed.
When asked about a video circulating online, the Tánaiste declined to comment.
He said: "I think it's very much a personal matter, and, as you say, it does relate entirely to my private life and for those reasons I don't want to comment on that."
