Shane Cassells (Meath West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We do not have time to get into the myriad of reasons they did not work out. At the start of the noughties, substantial council estates were still being built in my town. In tandem, funding was got from the Department to build community centres in the middle of them to make sure they worked as sustainable communities. Swimming pools and so forth also were provided.

In Mr. John McCarthy's opening statement, he said on-the-ground activity and delivery can be accelerated only by the local authorities, the Housing Agency and the approved housing bodies working in partnership. We have a letter today from the CCMA. Its representatives did not come here today to discuss this most critical issue pertaining to the country. Therefore, it is somewhat hard to find out about on-the-ground activity. Mr. John McCarthy did not make reference to quarter 2 of this year and to the fact that, of the 200 projects of a scale involved in the one-stage approval process, only 12 have gone through. What is going on with the local authority system if that is the figure?