Robert Dowds (Dublin Mid West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the officials for attending. I am very much in favour of the spirit of this legislation because it is important to try to attend to the housing crisis. I am very much in favour of the vacant site levy but what happens if county councils are not proactive in pursuing such sites? It is a good idea to fill in sites in towns and cities that are near the centre of activity. Could lower development contributions be applied to them on the ground that much of the infrastructure is in place?

I am concerned regarding the local development contribution that in some cases it might have a negative impact on the development of local infrastructure. Will Mr. Sheridan address that issue?

I refer to an issue that is not addressed in the legislation, which I ask the officials to consider. I represent a constituency where there was probably the greatest planning corruption in the State with the town centre Lucan-Clondalkin being moved to Liffey Valley. Part of the ridiculousness of that is while there is a four track railway line going through my constituency, the housing is generally far away from it. The areas closest to the line have no housing and, therefore, it is not of much use to people. An area has been zoned since the early 1970s for housing, the Clonburris strategic development zone. Will the Minister consider levying such greenfield sites, which have been lying vacant for a long time or reverting the zoning to agricultural or some other use?

How will the Bill deliver on the 10% social housing provision? I gather from the response to Deputy Murphy's questions about this that the houses will not necessarily be council houses. Am I correct that they will either be council houses or houses rented out by housing associations?