Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I apologise to the Senator for my comments in relation to the Shanganagh site. I was being needled by one of his colleagues and I pulled on my Fine Gael jersey. The issue was first brought to my attention by Councillor Maria Bailey but I acknowledge it had support from all on the council, that they had been working on a solution for the site, and it was not just a Fine Gael proposal.

Each LIHAF contract is negotiated between the local authority and the relevant developer or owner. It then comes to me for approval and sign-off. The Department robustly checks it to ensure it meets the separate criteria, but it is for the local authority and developer or owner to negotiate on its terms. They have been given direction on how and what can be negotiated. It does come back for me to sign and I am aware of my responsibilities in this regard. When the various contracts are signed, there will be a chance to talk more publicly about some of them.

The Senator mentioned a couple of issues that are being considered in the context of the budget and, therefore, I cannot go into them further. However, the Minster for Finance and I are in weekly and sometimes daily contact on various issues that need to be resolved in so far as tackling the housing problem and shortage is concerned.

A few appointments have been made recently to the board of An Bord Pleanála, which is welcome. It went through an organisational review, as a result of which new IT systems and so on are being brought in. I am in negotiations with the Minister for Finance for new funding to ensure it can do the things it wants to do.

I want what a local authority is responsible for achieving in terms of social housing targets to be as public as possible. I have told councillors that they will help me drive these targets and will know them in order that we all know exactly what is happening and move away from the idea of a local authority saying one thing to a councillor who then hears something different from the Department. Rather, councillors will know the targets and how and when they are to be delivered and so on. That will be in place after the budget.

I will ask that a note be prepared for the Senator on the Flemish decree and what is to be done in this regard.