Paschal Donohoe (Dublin Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

To use the phrase yet again, if the Deputy wants it to be paid for out of general taxation, as most of it will be, and funded directly by the State, which will now happen as a result of the decision made by the Oireachtas, the consequences to which I referred will now happen.

We have to make choices about how we are going to do this. I am going to stay within the resolution passed by the Dáil with regard to the Oireachtas committee, but that is capital expenditure that we will now have to fund.

With regard to leasing, I am aware of the benefits of the argument the member is making. I have a great interest in public housing and in the provision of social housing stock because of my personal experience of these matters over the last decade. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, and I will now be looking at this matter in the context of Rebuilding Ireland. The Taoiseach has asked him to look at what we are currently doing in this area and has also requested my input and help, which I will of course provide. One of the major benefits of what the approved housing bodies have done and of the leasing approach currently in use is that we have been able to get some of necessary work done much quicker and more cheaply than would have been the case if these projects had been directly funded by local authorities. In my own constituency, for example, we have new housing developments which have been provided by AHBs with the support of Dublin City Council. I can think of two examples in particular of that approach in action, one in Cabra and one on the North Strand. I will keep any other expenditure matter under review and continue to assess whether it is the right way to go. I am aware of the points the member raises and they will feed back into the choices I make on this.

In response to the question on legal costs, I do not currently have the figure to hand. The reason for this is that many of the legal proceedings are only just beginning. We have filed our views on and assessment of this matter with the relevant European court and will now have to go through the legal process with those concerned. The legal costs for all of this are now beginning to accrue and will continue to do so into the future. If I can supply to this committee the figures on what legal costs we have incurred to date then I will do so.

A question was asked as to whether the Apple funding has gone into the escrow account yet. This answer is that it has not. A further question was asked as to who would be affected by the rate of interest that may be determined on that escrow account. We are currently working on this in collaboration with the European Commission and I will answer that question when that work is completed.

The answer to the question on how much we collect on motor tax is that it is approximately €1 billion per year. We have not made any further policy changes on how that money will be used in the future as distinct from how it used at the moment.