Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

On 27 February 2018, there are record numbers of people in homelessness. It is almost two years since the Government took office and Rebuilding Ireland came into being. The public has not seen the return on that investment to date. I hope that changes quickly. An example of how it could be done would be a quicker turnaround between announcements and the putting into place of various actions. In the budget last October, we were told €750 million would be made available for competitive finance for the construction sector but five months later I do not know what mechanism is in place for that to come to fruition. The announcement last week presents a similar situation. I need to know that the roll-out of this agency will give it powers to provide for 40% of the population growth to be in town centres. How do I know it will happen more quickly than other announcements and plans that have not yielded results? We have been waiting five months for the competitive finance fund or the mechanism by which it can be allocated and applied for and I am no further on. I do not want the same to happen here. I recognise the potential contained within this initiative but it is about implementation. We do not want to be here again in five months' time saying there has not been a follow-up or the action has not matched.

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