John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

How many houses are in use today as a result of it? The point is that the urgency is not there.

I was amazed by the Minister today. He said 100 properties submitted by local authorities were eligible to be considered under the single-stage scheme but councils did not opt for that, opting instead for the normal four-stage scheme. He is dead right. They should have opted for it. Why did they not do so? It is because it is not fit for purpose. Why did it take the Minister until now to realise there were 100 projects in the scheme before he took action? It should have become obvious at a much earlier stage, and local authorities are not behind the curtain in saying why. There are problems with the scheme.

Deputy Gino Kenny mentioned a scheme in my area, and I want to refer to it briefly. I refer to the Kilcarberry development, where almost 1,000 units of accommodation are to be built, 70% private and 30% public. The Minister has said in this House a number of times that he wants a collaborative approach and is prepared to work with us to find solutions. He was specifically asked by my colleague, Deputy Ó Broin, who has gone missing now, to meet public representatives from the area with a view to seeing how we could advance an affordable housing project as part of that development. He refused the meeting. I am not saying it would have been successful but the meeting did not come about. We are very conscious that we cannot and will not hold up a development, but the point is that we asked for the meeting and it has not been-----

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