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

Through the Chair, I wish to come back on two points. Mr. Brennan mentioned one matter that obviously is highly important. To what extent can the bodies obtain access to land by contacting county councils or must they deal with private developers because in some cases, councils will have land? Does this depend on the bodies themselves or are there leads out to them from councils asking them to show an active interest? Second, I refer to the issue raised by both Deputy Catherine Murphy and me on the Housing Finance Agency, HFA, and access to its funding. Although it may not be directly connected with this legislation, it is a matter that arose at a recent meeting of the joint committee. The aforementioned agency appears to have quite an amount of money that seems to be simply sitting there at present. It would be far better if it were used for housing construction in some shape or form.