Michael D'Arcy (Wexford, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Senator Kieran O'Donnell spoke about many of the areas on which we have touched.

Senator Victor Boyhan suggested mortgage interest relief should not be available to landlords who did not accept HAP tenants. That is something at which we could look. I do not know if it would be possible, but I will try to find out for certain.

I do not have the details of the €17 billion health budget. The Senator had three questions about the National Rehabilitation Hospital in Dún Laoghaire related to the paediatric consultant, the six-bed children's ward and having 12 beds reopened. I do not know the answers to them, but I will try to find out for him.

The figure given in the Dáil for the increase in the housing area of €80 million is wrong. It took a little time to find it. The increase in capital and current expenditure in the housing budget is €728 million, not €80 million. It is a large increase. We expect to build or acquire 7,700 new local authority units, either by purchase or with approved housing bodies and others. The budget for the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government will be €2.3 billion.