Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On the site on the Dublin Road that I mentioned there are cables in the trenches with water. It will have to be levelled. It will be difficult to return some of these sites to agricultural use. The Minister has mentioned some where there is no developer or funder and no one is responsible. There is a huge need for local authority housing and there will be a need for sites, but land will become expensive again. If these sites were cleared and the State and local authorities have to step in, the Minister might take on board an idea I heard this morning, that where the State has to pick up the tab on estates on which there is some infrastructure, it acquire the sites, especially if NAMA is involved. This would be cost-neutral and the sites could be used for the development of affordable and social housing.

See this speech in context