Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

In response, I would say that is an issue for the Estimates process. That process is now getting under way. Every Minister and Department will set out their priorities and I will go through all of them. To be fair to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in the last two budgets he has significantly increased the number of HAP places, and he has secured a lot of additional funding on both the current and the capital expenditure sides. I know it is a priority area for him. It will be discussed in the coming weeks as part of the Estimates process. I will discuss the issue with him.