Thomas Gould (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the Minister's point about delaying, I will use the example of the LDA's site at St. Kevin's Hospital in Cork. I, my Sinn Féin colleagues and other people in the Opposition proposed the development of this site back in 2013. The site is being developed now by the LDA but we still do not have a breakdown of how much is going to be affordable, affordable cost-rental or purchase, social and private. I am a Deputy for Cork North-Central yet I still do not know what the breakdown is.

There was an announcement at one of our housing meetings where it was said that the rental income will be between €900 and €1,000. For the people of Cork North-Central whom I represent, that rental figure is not affordable cost-rental or affordable for people. The Government is using the concept of giving a discount on the market value, and this goes to the whole crux of where we are coming from. Affordability should not be based on market value. It should be based on what is actually affordable for people. If we are saying that it should be a maximum of between 30% and 35% of a person's income then how can we say this is affordable if we are using the market as the guide? It is wrong for the Minister to say that we are trying to delay things when the Fine Gael Government, that was supported by Fianna Fáil, sat on its hands for years while I and all of my Sinn Féin colleagues sought the development of this site and other sites.

Finally, the Cork City Council cried out for funding for years to develop sites. If we want to provide funding to the council to deliver houses then local authorities should be funded. I come from Knocknaheeny and live in Gurranbraher, which are sites that were developed by local authorities when funding was made available. Local authorities should be supported to deliver social and affordable houses.