Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. I will watch the Dáil with interest. As the State rebuilds its housing capacity and knowledge, one of the public partners used may be a housing authority. The Minister mentioned partners. Many of the partners we have discussed have housing as their main focus and they will become partners for a housing authority or something else. However, there is scope through a public-public partnership arrangement for partnerships between bodies that are directly involved in housing and, as Senator Craughwell said, State bodies that are strongly connected with housing need as well as housing provision. The Minister stated that bodies would need to have a certain housing expertise, but I am cautious in that regard. If a State body with lands has a housing need attached to it, for example, a hospital or our universities, perhaps one partner could have housing expertise while the other partner would not focus mainly on housing. I am feeding this point into the Minister's consideration of the definition for when he addresses the issue.