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

Deputy Connolly is well informed at a local authority level because she has her own connections there. It is true to say that some of the land that Galway city owns is sterile because of a route selection. That project is going to be happening quite soon, which will deal with that part and which will open up the town. We have asked the council to bring forward plans for that land or, if necessary, for alternative land. We said we would work with the authority on purchasing new sites as well. We have gone through all the different areas, site by site. We have arrived at some solutions to bring forward some housing earlier.

To be clear, we have looked at Galway city and County Galway. There are difficulties with both, and there is a line on the map that separates the two. In other initiatives, in Cork and other places, we have managed to make this work through a combination of local authorities. We both think that a similar approach, namely, for the Department to work with the two Galway local authorities to bring housing solutions forward, might be appropriate. We will deal with this by taking the line off the map. There are potential solutions with which we can work. Through taxpayers' money allocated by our Department and this Government, the funding to address this is available. The supply issue is a major difficulty in Galway, for both private and public accommodation. There is very little private sector development. We will work with all our abilities to try to make this happen. We are looking at a new approach to making this happen a little bit quicker, because it is a priority area. It is an area that we want addressed and the resources are there to do it. There is a difficulty with land but not with all of the sites. We will deal with it on a site-by-site basis and we will find solutions as we go along.

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