James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

I have been heavily engaged with the LDA. I meet it regularly. It is anxious to have that direct delivery model, which is what it has been moving towards as quickly as possible. The key is that we get properties delivered. As I say, I much prefer the direct delivery model and to get the private market delivering on the private sector side of things. That is where we are heading and where much of my wider decision-making of the last few months have been driving towards. We will provide the LDA with the funding it needs to deliver the properties we want it to deliver right across the country. I am very confident that we will get there in terms of our housing delivery model and we will do so over the coming years.

Under the national development plan, nearly one in every three euro over the next five years will be into housing or into water to facilitate housing delivery. That shows the commitment from the Government to deliver. The LDA is an absolutely crucial part of that, as are local authorities. A lot of our local authorities are really delivering on social housing. Some are not and we need everyone to step up to the mark.

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