Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for her response and I look forward to reading it in detail in order to ascertain exactly what information is contained within it. The housing situation is fast becoming a major crisis, with 100,000 on waiting lists throughout the country. In his budgetary speech, the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform stated that he was allocating an extra €30 million from the sale of the national lottery towards housing projects under the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. However, proposed capital expenditure for next year in the budgetary booklet contains a fall of €40 million. Is it just a €10 million deficit for the coming year? The Minister of State has stated that she has maintained figures, so is it basically a retention of what we achieved last year? I am a little confused, so perhaps the Minister of State might clarify the issue.

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