Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees

Wednesday, 16 July 2014

Joint Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure and Reform

Pre-Budget Submissions: Discussion (Resumed)

5:50 pm

Photo of Paul CoghlanPaul Coghlan (Fine Gael)
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I will be very quick. I apologise for being late. I was caught in another meeting. I welcome Mr. Davitt, Ms Randall, Mr. Allen and Mr. Jordan and thank them for their contributions insofar as I heard them. I very much agree with the IPAV submission. I am a member of IPAV so I would say that, wouldn't I? I was very taken with what Mr. Allen said about NAMA. I know there is pressure on it to sell off a lot. I am against that from a taxpayer's point of view. Mr. Allen was quite right. Why should local authorities increase social deprivation and ghettoisation in, for example, Tallaght by taking on an awful lot of stuff that is wrongly sited? As he said, houses were built in the wrong places. Things must find their own level. Like Mr. Allen, I would be on the side of the councils in that respect. I thank him for what he said.