Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I agree that the local authorities must be key to delivering social housing as they delivered it in the past for 80 to 90 years, although there is now another agent, which is NAMA. We have NAMA as a separate issue but it could be asked to deliver much more social housing. Its representatives should come in soon after that session. The role of the local authorities and NAMA must be teased out.

If we are inviting people to present, it is good to bring in representatives of the housing agencies. We should also consider academics and people who have studied the delivery of social housing, land costs and what has led to the current problem. I am not talking about big lectures for half an hour.

People such as Rory Hearne have written extensively on this issue. We suggested others in our submission as well. I can name them if necessary: John Bissett, Professor Cathal O'Connell and Joe Finnerty from UCC. It should not just be us asking housing agencies.

Finally, it is good that Dublin City Council is coming in, but there are other councils in the county of Dublin. For example, there are 769 families homeless in Dublin at present, one third of whom live in the Fingal County Council area where I reside. We have a disproportionate problem and yet there is nobody coming in from that local authority. We should-----