Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

—and it is precisely what some Members have done in this debate.

On one hand, local authority members are seeking further responsibility while, on the other, they deny that they have a responsibility by using the facilities and the laws available to them when they sit on local authorities. When they do not exercise their full mandate under the law, they come to Seanad Éireann or Dáil Éireann and blame everybody else. That is a nonsense. It may make for wonderful debates, but it will not lead to anything being delivered.

The key factor for the different organisations was to make the 20% provision in Part V more flexible. It was as simple as that. A number of common issues were brought to my notice by all concerned, particularly the local authorities. I was informed that there are many estates which are suitable for the delivery of social and affordable housing. However, local authorities also informed me that there are areas where they could obtain many more units of social and affordable housing if they were in a position to either swap land in their possession or swap and marry different lands which adjoin those owned by builders.