Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for updating the House with that detailed response. Ideally Croí Cónaithe will be a key driver in providing and increasing the availability of developed lands as soon as possible. I thank the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Peter Burke, for two great projects funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage through the urban regeneration development fund, URDF, for the Castlebar historical core and the old military barracks.

However, to maximise the impact of these regeneration projects, they also need to go hand in hand with an increased supply of housing to boost the population in towns and villages such as Castlebar. There is considerable demand throughout Mayo, in Ballina, Westport and Castlebar, for increasing the supply of housing. The rate of population growth in Mayo is 4.2%, one of the highest in the country. There is high demand and a major shift post the pandemic to move back home. We need to move past talking about providing new funds to serviced sites and open applications to local authorities so that they can apply.

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