Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the points that Mr. Doyle makes. He makes them bona fides. I know he is new to the Department. He spoke about making "inroads into that over time", but what we actually need to see over the next number of years is a radical revolution in the delivery of public housing. We passed the Affordable Housing Bill in this House over the last number of weeks. Is the Department ready to start rolling out that delivery to local authorities, using the Affordable Housing Bill and all the powers it gives to local authorities, to deliver in the short term? Along with the societal impacts, there is a public spending issue, where nearly €500 million is being spent on a policy that should be phased out in the short term. The short question is whether the Department and the local authorities are ready to start this radical roll-out of housing.