Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will respond briefly to Deputy Ó Broin. I do not agree that the sites would have proceeded had we not put in place LIHAF 1 funding. The State is getting the money back for the investment made. The State is getting far more back in terms of unlocking these sites for housing than it might have gotten had it directly invested the money. If the current inflation trend for house price increases seen in the first four months this year continues, then we will have single digit inflation this year. That would be a welcome development because we saw double-digit inflation during the past 12 months.

I do not doubt the need for houses in the areas the Deputy has identified in his constituency.

If we are to proceed with LIHAF 2, local infrastructure housing activation fund, there will be a need for a new application. The great thing about these projects is that a huge amount of the heavy lifting has been done in putting proposals together and ensuring the other funding required to leverage LIHAF 2 funding is in place. They will have to make a new application for the new funds because there are different weighting criteria and a number of objectives that have to be met. However, an application that is ready to go will be looked at more favourably because we want to ensure the money will be drawn down from the beginning of next year. We have to invest a large amount of money between now and 2027, the lifetime of funds under the national development plan. These applicants will start from a very good position, but they will have to pay attention to the new criteria which will be slightly different from those under LIHAF 2. I have no doubt that, given the progress made under LIHAF 1, they will be in a good position when the applications process is opened.

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