Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

As a result, the Taoiseach and his colleagues facilitated, letting off the hook, those whose responsibility it was to provide 20% social and affordable housing within all private developments. The Government rammed through and guillotined in Christmas week 2002 a revisitation of that requirement, which allowed those developers to buy out of their responsibilities to address the social and affordable housing of needs of people in this jurisdiction through the use of money and the transfer of land banks to local authorities.

Is the Taoiseach aware that of the 80,000 new homes built in 2005, a mere 830 were allocated to social and affordable housing under Part V of the Planning and Development Act? That is marginally more than 1% of the housing provided last year and a far cry from the 20% requirement under the aegis of the legislation. The amending legislation the Taoiseach and his colleagues rammed through the Chamber, despite the concerns expressed by Opposition voices of what would happen and what has now proven to be the case, has let off the hook those who had a clear and binding responsibility. The Taoiseach, his party and the PDs stand condemned by these statistics, which demonstrate clearly that the Government's cosy relationship with the developers in our society was more important to it than meeting the housing needs of the most poor, needy and marginalised in our society. We want to hear the Taoiseach's response to the facts before the House.

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