Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister of State give a commitment today that the Government will insist on at least a minimum of 10% social housing on every site which is given planning permission in the future? That is a must. Apart from providing social housing, it tackles the considerable social problems in the city.

If there is a problem and banks will not lend to builders, is there not more of an argument than ever before for the Government to bring in the strategic investment bank it promised in the programme for Government where it can decide what to lend and to whom to lend?

We cannot trust the banks to do it and cannot depend on them to supply us with the necessary funding to carry out infrastructural projects. We have saved banks that were useless and broke, and now they will not even function in the interests of the State and the people. If we cannot tell them what to do, we need our own strategic investment bank.

A huge problem remains. I have just read the Kenny report and it is complicated. It is difficult to come up with a system to control the price of development land but it is very much worth doing.

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