Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I congratulate Mr. McCarthy on his appointment and I look forward to working with him in his role as Secretary General,

I have questions on the land aggregation scheme. Members will be familiar with how the land aggregation scheme operates in their constituencies.

I recall that a great many local authorities raised significant finance from the Housing Finance Agency to purchase sites in their administrative areas in the mid-2000s with a view to developing social housing schemes predominantly on those sites. Hundreds of millions appears to have been expended on those projects, at least in terms of purchasing the sites. What is the current position, who ends up paying for servicing the loans that the local authorities took on to purchase the sites? Does the Department have a liability in respect of the land aggregation scheme?