Martin Conway (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for endorsing the ethos of the case I have made. I am delighted a positive meeting was held between departmental officials and Jim Connolly of Rural Resettlement Ireland, who is based in Kilbaha in west Clare. I hope the meetings in the new year will be even more positive, because Rural Resettlement Ireland has a proven track record going back to the early 1990s. It certainly has expertise, which the Minister of State has recognised. It can play a significant part in the housing crisis which bedevils the country at present. I will bring up with the Leader on the Order of Business that in February or March we will have statements in the House on rural resettlement, at which stage the Minister of State might have developed a more advanced policy platform, with targets for rural resettlement. Rural Resettlement Ireland has a role to play not only in developing this new policy but also in implementing it. I thank the Minister of State for one of the more comprehensive responses to a Commencement matter debate the House has had in some time.