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

I welcome the advent of the Land Development Agency. I know that it has taken a long time to come to fruition and very much welcome the overarching principle of what it is trying to do, but, to date, the approach has been piecemeal. We are trying to work collaboratively and share responsibility with the local authorities. Aside from the physical resources the agency will provide, where required, what other additional supports can it give to local authorities? I have in mind sites on which it is taking a long time to get to a certain point in providing 100 or 150 units.

I take great offence when anyone uses terms such as "flogging off State land," as if we are simply going to throw it away and get nothing back in return.

That is a little misleading. I concur fully with Mr. Coleman that the initial part of bringing a site to the point where it can be developed is extremely costly. If it is more beneficial to flip it and get something back in return, for example, 30% affordable, public private partnership or joint ventures, we have to examine those proposals in detail and determine what is in the best interests of the State in value for money terms.

The 10% baseline that keeps coming up is exactly that, a baseline. People are misconstruing it. It is a minimum requirement. Nowhere does it say that cannot be exceeded or increased. It is the same with the 30% affordability on the particular sites mentioned earlier. Some sites outside Dublin will have a natural affordability but that is never mentioned. What is never mentioned either is something I point to in relation to a site we have in Dún Laoghaire, Fitzgerald Park, where we have 50 social houses which will be delivered this year. It took years to get to this point. They are magnificent homes built to a really high standard which we are providing to families to give them a safe environment in which to raise their children. No one ever asked for 10% affordable on those. No one ever asked for mixed tenure on those sites. There can sometimes be an imbalance on that side too. Bearing in mind that we have to look after the most vulnerable in society first, affordability is as much of a problem as social housing. For that reason, I welcome very much the initiative establishing the Land Development Agency and principally what it is set to do.

When it comes to the board that will be put in place, I presume those appointed will be highly qualified and vastly experienced to deal with what is ahead of us. While people can talk about salaries and misconstrue them in any way they want, if one wants to get qualified people with experience from the private sector, one has to pay them accordingly. If one wants them to leave very valuable jobs, they have to be paid accordingly. In return for that, we have transparency and can question the board where it is accountable to the Oireachtas and everyone else. To get qualified, vastly experienced people, however, they must be paid accordingly.

Local authority social housing targets are similar to the 10% baseline in that they are targets. They are not a minimum requirement but are expected to be exceeded. In that regard, how will the agency, through collective and shared responsibility, help those local authorities where possible?