Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Several people referred to the delivery of housing. It is important to note that in the context of the delivery of student apartments, over 2,600 bed units have been provided in the past 18 months. Another 5,000 are under construction and the target is 21,000 units by 2024. This will remove approximately 5,000 houses from student accommodation and make them available to those working or families. The delivery of social housing is occurring but I accept that delivery is not fast enough. We seem to have a problem with procedures right across the system, from agreeing that social housing should be built to navigating the planning process to proceeding to commencement and on to getting the work done. The position needs to be reviewed. Last Thursday, I attended a launch in my former local authority area in respect of the completion of 52 new houses and the turning of the sod regarding construction of a further 47. That is just one of nine ongoing projects in Cork city. The last time I had a Commencement matter on this issue, the Minister announced the provision of €39 million in funding for seven different projects involving the construction of 134 houses. That was a welcome development. I make no apologies for bringing the Minister in and ensuring that projects are followed up on. Local authority members and management, the Department and the Minister all have a part to play in that regard.

When the downturn hit the construction industry, there was a significant loss of jobs. Between 2008 and 2011, over 200,000 jobs were lost. We are now back to having full employment. We have a problem in the sense that the construction industry has not returned to the same level of production, however. Our challenge is to ensure we have an adequate number of people with the skills and expertise necessary to increase the level of construction. This is a challenge we need to consider. It might be worth bringing the Minister to the House for a debate. Let us be positive, in that the jobs have been created here in other areas and we need to consider the challenge in the construction industry and how we can bring in the people with the relevant skills and how we can get the private sector moving at a far faster pace. We must also examine how we are currently delivering local authority and social housing.

I also wish to raise one area of the 2040 national development project, namely, the healthcare sector. Last week, the Department of Education and Skills announced plans for the building of new schools and it will set out the programme for the next four to five years. An important issue in the health service concerns me. Under the last Government, by which I mean the Administration prior to 2011, it took more than 25 years before the children's hospital was even started. I am concerned that we have set up a clear programme for the building of new hospitals. We need to bring the Minister for Health before the House to set out how this programme regarding the building of new hospitals and the new healthcare facilities will be implemented, the timeline in each case and a clear programme of action. I am concerned that it may fall between two stools, that is, between the Department of Health, the HSE, local authorities and so on. It is something we need to look at and something on which we should hold a debate.