Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The Deputy can talk about percentages but he is only fooling himself. It is up to the local authorities to use these moneys. Members will be surprised by the amount of time the Department spends on driving housing associations and local authorities to introduce their plans and draw down the funds. Some years ago it was the opposite. The €38 million is ring-fenced and it will be used.

This output clearly reflects the use of the various flexible options now available to satisfy Part V obligations. Without fear of contradiction, had we not introduced flexibility by increasing the options available we simply would not have attained the numbers delivered and future output would have been bleak.

See this speech in context