Denis Naughten (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fine Gael)

The Minister of State is new to his job and I wish him the best of luck with it. I wish to focus on the issue of affordable sites. I made the Minister of State's predecessor aware of a huge difficulty with such sites. Is this Minister of State aware that there is no basis in law for affordable sites? This is causing a huge problem with lending institutions, given the issues of security and clawback on the site. Will the Minister of State give a commitment to address the anomaly in the legislation with regard to affordable sites? He must ensure the system currently in place for affordable houses is also put in place for affordable sites. There is huge demand for affordable sites but the legal anomalies, which are not being addressed by the Department, are prohibiting local authorities from making such sites available.

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