Pat Casey (Wicklow, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am just asking. I think we will all be out of here at 5 o'clock anyway, so I may as well get as much in as I can.

I want to go back to a statement made by the former Minister, Deputy Coveney, in the Dáil last week or the week before. He stated that no local authority had been refused a construction project. I find that hard to believe, unless there is a pre-consultation process taking place where local authorities are told not to submit anything. I cannot believe the small volume of the projects submitted. Given the crisis unfolding in every county, I cannot believe local authorities would be submitting application for five, ten or 20 units; they would be submitting applications for significantly higher units. Are the local authorities being consulted prior to them submitting construction projects to the Department? We need to know that because we are not delivering on social houses. Unless we get real about this, I do not think we will get there.

The issue of vacant properties was brought up. This is a win-win situation for everybody. We do not need infrastructure because it is already there. There is no cost involved. We have 198,000 vacant properties according to the Department's website and have only targeted 800, or 0.4%, of them. Targeting vacant properties is a win for everybody. There is no huge infrastructure cost.

On the issue of infrastructure, I know approximately €200 million is there for it. We are only rolling out €50 million or so of that on an annual basis, however. If we are only rolling the last €50 million of that out in year four, it will be three or four years before that infrastructure is in place. That infrastructure, then, will not produce results for six or seven years.