Mary Lou McDonald (Dublin Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

On Brexit, I invite the Taoiseach to again confirm to the Dáil that the negotiations remain a matter for the British Government and the EU bloc and that there will be no bilateral negotiations between Ireland and Britain on the matter of the backstop or any alternatives thereto.

Last week I raised with the Taoiseach the urgent need to publish an affordable housing scheme, something for which local councils are screaming. The absence of such a scheme is delaying the delivery of affordable homes. Following our brief exchange on the matter, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government heard from the ESRI, the Housing Agency and the Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance on the issue. The CEO of the Housing Agency, Mr. John O'Connor, said Government policy should strike a balance between the delivery of affordable homes for sale and rent and that the focus on home ownership must be tempered by the roll-out of affordable cost rental housing. The CEO of the Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance, Mr. Hugh Brennan, stated his housing association had the capacity to deliver many more affordable homes for purchase and that it was actively looking at sites on which it could deliver such housing. It is vital and ought to be a priority for the Taoiseach and the Government that the heel-dragging in the publication of an affordable housing scheme be stopped. The Government should move on the issue. It is badly needed because affordable homes are badly needed. Will the Taoiseach clarify exactly when the scheme will be published?

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