Paul McAuliffe (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am conscious of those two programmes because my community in Ballymun is halfway through a master plan that started nearly 20 years ago. We want to ensure that we have affordable purchase and affordable rental in the area. Local authorities did not have those tools before the legislation was passed in the past two years. We could not deliver mixed-income housing with that legislation. The programmes are important.

There are 28 ha of land in public ownership across 19 sites. Dublin City Council has been looking at them. Without being critical, I expect Dublin City Council to be ambitious about all of those sites, particularly the ones with a commercial element. I hope that the Department will be in a position to support the council across the city, but specifically in respect of the sites in Ballymun. While this is about providing housing, it is also about delivering on the promise of the regeneration plan. This is a major opportunity. It is 30 minutes from Dublin city centre and on a proposed metro line. It is all in our ownership and under our control. We can build thousands of houses in Ballymun. That would be a significant benefit, so I would appreciate the Minister's support.