Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The proposal is reasonably sensible and we will support it. I have a number of questions. I am also confused about the land. In his contribution, the Minister may well have said something about leases on agricultural land; I am not sure if I picked that up correctly. For example, what is calculated as being the likely refunds? Has a calculation been done on the cohort of land that would end up in residential use?

Regarding Deputy Fitzmaurice's amendment, if agricultural land is included, what costs are included? What are the estimates in that regard?

We all know there is a housing crisis and we need to increase supply. Affordable housing is part of that. The Government is relying almost exclusively on the private sector to supply that. Is there any proposal for a sunset clause setting a future point in time that could be used as another factor in trying to get this land into use quickly? Without that, this is an open-ended arrangement for a particular cohort of people who have been hoarding land. It is important to indicate that if it is not used, there is a sunset clause.

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