Séamus McGrath (Cork South-Central, Fianna Fail)

I very much welcome the establishment of the housing activation office. This idea came from the work of the Housing Commission. The Minister took it on board and brought forward his own proposals in relation to it, and that is very welcome. As he says, working under the one roof and having the various forms of expertise from the local authority sector, the utilities sector, the Department officials themselves and the infrastructure sector, such as transport and so on, is critical. I also welcome the fact that, in the budget yesterday, over €200 million was secured for the work of the housing activation office, as was over €300 million in additional funding for the URDF, which is very important in unblocking some of the barriers to supply. That is critical because, as we all know, housing is the number one priority of the Government. We have to unblock those barriers. I welcome the Minister's establishment also of the housing infrastructure fund, which is critical to addressing some of the infrastructural deficiencies out there in order that we can get development, particularly large-scale development, under way.

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