Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister referred to the correspondence I received from the Secretary General and the clarification that was given. It is appropriate that I put an excerpt from that on the public record. The Secretary General stated that in the context of the engagement taking place on this issue, the intent of the Department official's comments would have been understood by the recipients of the e-mail, but that the use of the word "spinning" rather than language such as "highlighting" or "indicating" when referring to public statements regarding the sufficiency in the medium term of land zoned in Dublin was both inappropriate and ill advised, and clearly open to different interpretations. He apologised for that on behalf of the Department. I accept that apology.

I again ask the Minister to respond to the House and to those on housing waiting lists, those who have no opportunity to purchase a home and those who have no access to the mortgage interest rates that should be available to them just as they are to their European counterparts. Have we learned nothing from what happened previously with respect to the housing bubble that is growing daily and a crisis that is evolving into a calamity? Can the Minister confirm that the figures being provided by the Department regarding the amount of zoned lands available to be built on this year are proper and correct?

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