Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I cannot but be moved by the comments from the Opposition given recent history because the whole social housing problem that arises now is due to the failure over a 15 year period to have any proper housing strategy. That is what the present Government inherited. The Minister of State could be forthright, admit that and say it to the public because we will not do anything meaningful about this issue unless and until we devise a system that will deal with it.

The National Treasury Management Agency (Amendment) Bill, passed last week, might be used as a vehicle to try to ensure funding is made available, because funding is obviously a problem, for the direct construction of affordable and local authority housing in the old-fashioned sense. At present there is no competition between those in private rented accommodation, the investors who own that accommodation and the rest of the community. There is nobody to provide an alternative in that sector. It is completely controlled by the markets, the banking sector and the rising rents. Those people are in a very difficult situation.

Would it be possible to pursue vigorously the use of the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, to ensure that funds are made available?

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