Maria Bailey (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

On the supply issue, my constituency borders Deputy Casey's Wicklow constituency. I am aware of a number of sites in Shankill and Old Connaught area. I never thought I would see the day when Cherrywood would be up and running. I was part of that process in 2006 and 2008; it was quite a process. In 2011, I never thought we would see what we saw last Wednesday with the turning of the sod on the infrastructural end of Cherrywood with the potential to return 8,000 homes. That will obviously benefit Deputy Casey's area as well as mine. With that supply, obviously we would hope it would bring down the cost of rent and the cost of purchasing homes. That day was a monumental day for the country. I believe it is the biggest piece of land that will be developed in our time in here. It will be done in a proper manner where the infrastructure and the needs of that community come first before the housing is provided.

I know Deputy Casey is very aware that the site incorporates recreational and educational facilities, a town centre and a commercial aspect. We all want to create the environment to encourage that. I was very proud to be part of that from the very start. It was a very tough battle. I know Deputy O'Dowd knows inside out how tough these processes can be and he always sticks with them to the very end as I do. We want to get development like that throughout the country in a properly managed regulated way with the standards in place from the very start. Many other sites throughout the country will emulate what happened in Cherrywood. I was delighted to see that finally come to fruition as my colleagues were.

We visited many sites, including Ellis Quay and many of the modular homes in the country. We want to see people having somewhere they can call home and having security for their families and the opportunity for them to feel safe in that environment. I very much welcome that coming to fruition last week. Supply underpins what we are trying to do here.