Michael Kitt (Fianna Fail)

I move amendment No. 1:

To delete all words after "That" and substitute the following:

"Seanad Éireann acknowledges the achievements of the Government in:

–increasing the resources provided to local authorities through the local government fund and through the buoyancy in their income from local sources due to the success of this Government's policies;

–ensuring that local authorities have adequate resources to service the land necessary for development, including industrial, commercial and housing developments;

–ensuring that the cost to the public purse of servicing land for private development is recouped in part from the persons developing that land;

–revising the long-standing system of levying development contributions to help fund local authority infrastructure to ensure it is implemented in a more transparent and consistent way across the country with a new role for the elected members of authorities in overseeing the system;

–focusing on increasing housing supply as the key response to the broad range of housing needs and demand;

–supporting record levels of housing output since 1997 with the prospect of a further record level of housing output being achieved in 2003;

–moderating the rate of house price increases;

and supports the continued action and commitment by the Government to adequately resource the local government system to underpin the continuing development and competitiveness of the economy."

I welcome the Minister and congratulate him on the very fine work he is doing on housing.