Ms Bairbre Nic Aongusa:

Nor do I believe local authorities are being sidelined. Clearly from the time of the social housing strategy, local authorities are back centre stage in building social housing. Again the reality is that they do not represent the entire solution; it has to be multifaceted.

While, as officials, we do not comment on the merits or otherwise of policy, a number of comments were made about the policy of relying on the private sector. Something the committee should take into consideration if it is making recommendations is that the social housing strategy we had of local authority, approved housing body and private sector housing, was in part as a result of the availability of funding. We have a limited amount of Exchequer funding. The members will have heard from my colleagues in the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform about the constraints on Exchequer funding. So the approved housing bodies can be off balance sheet. The private sector can do its piece. We have a limited amount of Exchequer funding.

All of those things need to be taken into account in consideration of that particular issue.

Deputy Moran asked whether local authorities could buy lands, including Iarnród Éireann. My colleague, Mr. Colin Ryan, will speak about our land strategy because we have been examining those issues.

The Chairman asked about the Department's €2 million scheme and the extent of its utilisation. It has only been in place since January so it is early days yet. We have had a number of inquiries from local authorities. The reaction has been mixed. Some local authorities do not see it as an option but other local authorities have welcomed it and are interested in using it. To date, we have had no formal applications.