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

I agree with most people who say that the SHDs were a complete failure. When you look at the number of applications, and I think Mr. Hogan said it earlier, 52,000 were supposed to be delivered, and of the 210 development sites, only 82 were commenced. How many affordable houses were lost in those developments that were not developed? The other question that Mr. Hogan might be able to answer is how long will those developers have to develop those other 132 sites? Is that the figure Mr. Hogan gave earlier? Some 128 were not started. I welcome the new legislation because everyone recognises that the SHDs were a failure and we needed to move on.

Community consultation and involving communities and local public representatives is vital. We want to deliver housing, we want sites, and we want development that is sustainable and meets city development plans and local area plans. Without consultation, however, that has been a huge problem. We have seen that with all the different cases that have been taken.

Reference was made to the new Government plan, Housing for All. Do the officials have any comment on the Government's U-turn, with Mr. Killian Woods reporting that there could be a loss of up to 10,000 affordable homes with a last-minute decision by the Government to provide an exemption? There are a couple of questions there. If I have more time to come back to the witnesses, I will do so.