Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not know whether Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett attended the meeting of the Select Sub-Committee on the Environment, Community and Local Government where members forensically examined the intentions of the Minister. We have allocated €1.3 billion in Exchequer funding over the coming three years. In addition, private financing will be sourced for a PPP package of €300 million and a further €400 million from the resources of the sale of State assets. We specifically created a new general purpose vehicle to provide housing. Local authorities, including the one in the constituency of Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett, are involved in discussions about how it should be rolled out.

I strongly refute the notion that we have not made the right choices. We have addressed social need as we saw it and protected social welfare as best we could, during a catastrophic time for our finances. It is difficult to take lessons about expenditure reductions from the party opposite, which caused the crisis that ruined our country. Thankfully, we have put things back together again.

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