Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Deputy said there is capacity for 1,500 units. The Minister, the Department and I agree, as would most people, that it would be wrong to put 1,500 social housing on that site. The site is probably best designed for around 1,000 housing units at medium development, which the Deputy would encourage as we have discussed developments in that area before here. The target at this moment is roughly 1,000. The local authority, Fingal County Council, and the members will decide what is the best development mix across the whole spectrum of housing. That is their job. They will bring forward the proposals to us as part of a master plan. We will encourage the local authority to develop the site as quickly as possible and we will help with the funding of that. The local authorities will do that, not the Deputy or I. It will assess the local area and judge what is the best development for that site. The Deputy claimed there are no other sites in the area. Fingal County Council has 81 ha at its disposal which it will work on in the years ahead.

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