Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I am sorry that I was absent. I am concerned about using large-scale developments comprising 300 or 400 houses to solve the problem. In various local authority areas throughout the country there is an over-concentration on what could be called socially deprived areas. Large developments might make for good economics but they do not make for good social cohesion. We all deal regularly with the issues arising from such an approach.

One of the contributing factors has been that since the local authorities slowed down or stopped direct building, there seems to be a concentration of people who fit into a particular category with the local authorities, while others are catered for by voluntary housing agencies. The suggestion has been made by local authority members that cherry-picking takes place. An over-concentration of social deprivation in one area is lethal. It does not work and I would strongly advise against it. The evidence seems to suggest that in the region of 40 houses would have an impact.

Economies of scale can be achieved in the same way, as the Chairman said. Housing can be bought or ordered in bulk over a period. A number of builders in the country specialised in building housing in several locations at the same time and using the same model and dimensions, such as roof trusses and so on. They engaged in such work for many years, were very successful and built very good houses. The same can be done today.

I refer to the quality of housing. For example, the design of duplex houses needs to be done very carefully, such as in the case of external stairways. Older people or children may be blown off such stairways in a gale. We have all seen examples during wintertime where ice caused people to slip. The worst element of design is having an entrance to somebody else's house under a stairs. It is a classic example of maximisation in terms of economics, but it is not a good approach to living conditions or a good place to put people. We should never try to do that because we are penalising people in a way that makes it impossible for them to live, exist and have a reasonable quality of life. I strongly urge that we do not go down that road.

We have to build houses. Economies of scale can be achieved in the way that Mr. Skehan has mentioned, but I strongly advise that we avoid the creation of ghettos. There is a tendency to respond to a situation using multiples of numbers, but we may make the situation worse.