Mr. Fergus Sharpe:

We agree with Deputy Barry Cowen. We would welcome more detail on the breakdown of spending under the national development plan in the coming year. The Dublin Chamber of Commerce has been clear on its priority projects. I take the Deputy's point that we are taking a one year view, rather than the full lifespan of the plan, but many of the projects we are discussing are a decade long and we believe much of the funding plan needs to start soon. Metro north is a key project, to serve both Swords and the growing population of the county of Fingal which now has the third largest population in the country, as well as to connect the airport and the city centre. It includes the DART expansion programme which includes the DART underground project which has been postponed repeatedly and redesigned for about half a century, as well as the electrification of the Hazelhatch and Maynooth lines. These are things that could be done in a shorter timeframe. Specifically, on the DART underground project, the National Transport Authority has been keen to maintain enough funding for it to be kept live, which would be an achievement in itself in the coming year. BusConnect is important, as is the eastern and midlands regional water supply project. Members will have heard about recent events in Skerries and fears about further water shortages in the capital in the coming days. That is an issue that must be addressed urgently.

Deputy Barry Cowen is correct about the effectiveness of spending on social housing. We have been very clear that there has to be a shift from reliance on the private sector to deliver a public good, namely, social housing. Reliance on the housing assistance payment, HAP, and continually pouring money into it is not a solution. It adds pressure on the private rental sector without improving the size of the overall housing stock. We would be open to having an agency. Our submission to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government last year during the review of the Rebuilding Ireland action plan suggested something along these lines. We suggested residential development in the greater Dublin area which is the epicentre of the accommodation crisis be joined with infrastructural planning and that there be a central agency for that purpose. We are agnostic on its structure, but there should be a point of co-ordination. Our hope is the metropolitan area strategic plan which forms the subsidiary level of the national planning framework will be the means by which it will be brought together, but we would love to see a single point of accountability to drive it.