Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

One of my colleagues mentioned the Land Development Agency and the new approach the Minister is taking with it. Could he elaborate on where specifically he sees the agency going in terms of increasing the delivery of housing? I am thinking specifically of private sites. They should have a significant role to play in enabling those sites to be developed, not necessarily by the State but by somebody. Could the Minister please comment on that?

I will ask a second question in the initial round. Vacant housing in local authority stock has not come up yet today in this session. It is a significant issue across the country. As the Minister well knows, nothing frustrates people more than seeing local authority housing vacant or boarded up for a prolonged period. It is an issue across the board. Local authorities around the country differ but it is an issue everywhere in the sense that it is taking too long.

What are the Department's proposals to try to reduce the turnaround time? We must turn around the stock we have in a much faster manner, in particular given the crisis we are in. I will put those two questions if I may.