Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I second the amendment to the Order of Business. I thank the Leader for conveying to the Minister and the Department the need to publish the list of targets for social housing to be built by the 31 local authorities across this country for 2018. I sit on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Planning and Local Government and we received the information at 8.30 a.m. today. It was a surprise to members of the committee and was certainly a surprise to me, as I was up earlier in the morning and had read the reports in all the national newspapers, which were briefed yesterday afternoon by the Department. It was quite extraordinary.

I took out a file to look at correspondence with the Department, which had indicated that it would convey the information but chose to go to the media before going to the political Chambers, something which the Department is asked to do.The issue is best illustrated by The Examiner, a newspaper with which the Leader is familiar. I checked with the Department this morning and the figures from The Examinerare those that have been agreed.I will read them out. The Government has committed to building 115 social houses in County Carlow, 41 in County Cavan, 29 in County Clare, 249 in Cork city-----