Dessie Ellis (Dublin North-West, Sinn Fein)

The Tánaiste's colleague, the Minister for housing, James Browne, has pulled the plans to build nearly 500 units within the Dublin City Council area under public-private partnerships. A total of 1,000 new homes have already been delivered under public-private partnerships and a further 3,500 were in the process of being delivered across the country. However, the Minister pulled the plug on the delivery of these additional homes. These units will primarily not be built because of opposition from the Department of public expenditure two days before construction on the project was to commence. Companies had already put substantial investment into the project in terms of both staff and resources.

We have a lame duck Minister. We need to now redirect moneys to the local authorities, which will deliver housing more cost-effectively than the public-private partnership schemes. Local authorities need to be the lead developers in delivering these badly needed homes.

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