Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am happy for us to deal with the lead time issue and include in that discussion what is being funded. Are the Departments involved just approving the funding for housing or, as Senator Moynihan has mentioned and the rest of us agree with her point, are they also approving the funding of social infrastructure, including community centres and crèches, as part of the approval process?

If they are, they should be because if they are not, it is bad value for money. We have all the evidence that building housing without the social infrastructure ultimately leads to problems. If we want public housing investment to be successful, we need to recognise that it must include more than just homes; it has to also include the ancillary social infrastructure that will be required. I am happy for us to deal with what is included in the funding approval but, critically, I want the lead time examined.