Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Wednesday, 25 November 2020
Public Accounts Committee
2019 Annual Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 34 - Housing, Planning and Local Government.
Local Government Fund
Chapter 2 – Central Government Funding of Local Authorities.
4:30 pm
Mr. Graham Doyle:
We are trying to do that. As we move towards the numbers for next year and beyond, the Chairman will see that we are trying to shift the mix a little bit further in that direction. I have looked at turnkey accommodation over the few months I have been in this role and it was certainly an issue as we looked towards the Estimates for next year. There are, however, many situations where turnkey accommodation makes absolute sense. One of the biggest criticisms the Chairman mentioned is that we can potentially be competing with first-time buyers, which is something we do not want to do. A significant amount of the turnkey accommodation that has been delivered has been located on sites where properties would otherwise simply not have been built. It does, therefore, add additional supply into the system. The particular type of accommodation needed in a particular locality can also be an issue. Turnkey accommodation definitely has a role. The one thing on which I would caution-----