Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Good, we will be all on the same side then when it comes out on that.

My last point concerns rapid builds and the Minister's point about objections from communities to social housing, which is a little unfair. People in many areas would object to any type of housing if a cul-de-sac is being opened up and their whatever is being interfered with. However, the Minister mentioned Beaumont. Would he not accept that it was not sensible to buy a big block for fewer social housing units? It might have been better, and would have been for all sorts of reasons, to buy the whole lot, offer to sell 50% of it for private housing and use that money to acquire social housing in a different area. That is precisely the point about rapid builds. The Minister said, and I would like him to explain it, that the Department is spending money buying houses. We know that. However, if we take the rapid build project the Minister has planned for Balbriggan, he is planning to spend €3 million more on those rapid build units than it would cost to acquire the same number of units across Balbriggan, which would free up that amount of money. Therefore, the Minister is not spending the same amount of money.

The Minister might also deal with the amount of time taken to deliver rapid build houses, which are now not modular units but timber frame houses. If they were to go through the normal planning permission process and so on, they would not necessarily be any quicker than any other timber frame dwellings.