Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the witnesses for their presentation. I totally agree with the concern about the HAP because I do not believe that people really understand it enough and there is a responsibility to promote it more, especially on the part of the local authorities which do not seem to promote it very well. I was reared in a local authority council house, like most people around me, and at that time Dublin Corporation - as it was - built the houses. However, that does not seem to happen now and local authorities have reneged on building. They have become rental and maintenance organisations for properties. If the truth is to be believed, we had representatives from the construction industry at this committee earlier and they spoke about building. However, I do not think they are interested in building social housing. They are more interested in building big private estates rather than anything else. If that is so, what does the IPAV believe will happen in the future with estates where many houses are currently being rented and which will continue to be rented if we do not start building again, particularly if local authorities do not start building? What kind of role does the IPAV believe auctioneers would have with the county councils in encouraging them to look again at developing sites themselves as local authorities, even if this means bringing in direct manual labour - as was done in the past - and not contracting out the building work? Does the IPAV see any possibilities in that regard?