Paudie Coffey (Waterford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Senator has made a fair point on funding. In recent years we did not have the capital funding to build the level of housing we wanted to build. Thankfully over the past year, the Government has managed to turn around the economy so that we can again make provision to see local authorities directly building houses again. The Government has committed almost €4 billion up to 2020, which is a substantial commitment of funding. We want to direct that funding in the most efficient way possible.

As the Senator will know, the legacy of the past is that local authorities, like individuals, were buying land banks that were unsustainable. We are trying to bring the focus back to the centres of towns and villages. Much funding is expended on delivering infrastructure for new housing developments. We are saying that money can be saved because this infrastructure is already in place. It is on streetscapes. Water, electricity and other utilities are already provided to the doorsteps of these sites.What we are saying is that we can ring-fence the funding and ask local authorities - the Minister and I have done so already - to prioritise sites that can be quickly turned around and are already serviced. I agree that we all want the same outcome. Unfortunately, we do not have time to wait for these sites to be developed, which is why this legislation has been brought forward. We want to stimulate activity on these sites and bring them back into beneficial use. I hope the Senator will understand my reason for opposing the amendment.