Caít Keane (Fine Gael)
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I welcome and thank the Minister and the Ministers of State.

With regard to actual measurement of performance, it must be asked if it is up to us, as legislators, to draw up the measurements to be used? When one looks at performance Europe-wide, Ireland does not rate well. However, if Ireland was to be rated on its performance since 2010, the performance level would read very differently in that it would be a higher and better percentage.

An overall allocation of 51% for housing represents a figure of more than €230 million, which is to be welcomed. I congratulate the Minister on the priorities he has set. There are 15,900 units to be provided in 2015. That is a big difference from the time I was on the council in the years before I entered the House. There was no social housing being provided and the system in operation did not work, perhaps through no fault of the local authorities. I hope, therefore, that this new funding and the priority being given to the programme will help to make it work now.

Reference was made to the local authorities' spend on housing. I understand some local authorities perform better than others. I know that Deputy Jerry Buttimer tabled a question last week about how the council was performing in Cork city versus Cork county in terms of the moneys being spent. Will the Minister clarify if the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has a benchmark for each local authority to see how it is performing and who is the best boy or girl in the class? Where is the rap on the knuckles? I know that the Minister of State, Deputy Paudie Coffey, has congratulated the local authorities on their voids programmes, on which I also congratulate them. In my area South Dublin County Council has really stepped up to the mark in making voids available, but there is more scope with this programme. It was pointed out to me by a local councillor in County Roscommon recently that two rural houses owned by the county council were falling apart because it was too expensive to renovate them. The council would use nearly all of its money for voids if it was to be spent on these two properties. However, there are developers who are ready and willing to take them over and perhaps lease them back through the HAP scheme to the local authorities. More should be done in that regard.I will supply further information on the matter to the Minister.

We hear criticisms all the time from Senators about the allocations from the local property tax, motor tax and general purpose funds. It could be beneficial, therefore, to see a graph showing what was given from them in the past five years to be compared with what is being done now.

I take issue with the Minister when he says the Government has devolved more powers to local authorities. I have analysed the powers devolved from full councils to district councils and also from central government to local government. They are minimal. I have them on paper and will forward the list to the Minister of State. I have conducted my analysis of what I term new local reserved functions. As I expected him to do, Councillor Walter Lacey responded to me because the new powers-----