Enda Kenny (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Government engages with the European Investment Bank and much more money is being invested now in a range of projects than was the case. In fact, one of the difficulties in Ireland in the past was that we did not bring forward projects of sufficient scale to warrant investment from the European Investment Bank. That is no longer the case.

I take the Deputy's point on the scale of what is available for particular housing, but we have to start somewhere. Why is it that we have all of these residential units boarded up? This leads to activities that are not in keeping with good estate management. The Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, received money from the Government recently in order that every council in the country could bring 2,000 of these units back into a condition where people could live in them comfortably. When Dublin City Council repairs unit X which is boarded up, it tears everything out and starts as if it is a empty shell, when it is not necessary to do this in many cases. A good, competent builder could restore a unit to provide very comfortable accommodation for a hell of a lot less and in a lot less time. There is no reason for this, other than wanting to comply with spurious conditions. We have to start somewhere. I hope the bringing of these 2,000 units back on stream will send a signal in its own way from every local authority. The Minister of State now reports to the Government each week on the progress being made in order these units can be brought back into use.

On another point, I find that in this city, when a unit is brought back to a liveable standard, it is often nine or ten months before it is allocated to a family, which seems unorthodox. One would think that when units were identified, families would also be identified to move into them and not have them repaired and left vacant for 12 months or more.

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