Victor Boyhan (Independent)

The Minister of State is welcome back to the House. He is no stranger to housing and the Department of housing and local government. My Commencement matter relates to Ardrew in Athy, County Kildare. I am also going to mention a number of other projects related to County Kildare.

The Minister of State may or may not be aware that the construction of over 70 social housing units in a community building project scheme for Ardrew has been halted by the Department of housing, which is the Department charged with the promotion of sustainable planning and development and tackling our housing crisis. It is strange to be in a position where the Department is clearly reconsidering a number of housing projects. I would be interested to hear the reason for that from the Minister of State, but the Department cited the overall cost of the project at Ardrew, which was considered too high. The construction of new homes at Ardrew was planned to begin in a few weeks' time. Indeed, builders were on site and preparatory works were being carried out. This project was ready to go. The Department had considerable notice of it and was fully aware of the finances, planning and various stages associated with this proposed development. This did not come out of the blue. It begs the question of who is minding the shop down in the Custom House in respect of our social housing programme. Planning approval was in place and the contractors were ready to go. This was, of course, all part of a public-private partnership. The Ardrew project was part of bundle 3. For those who are not acquainted with the bundle system - I am conscious that there are always people listening in - housing construction bundles are associated with a specific group of social housing projects within a large PPP programme, where private contractors take on the design, build, finance, operation and tenancy management of a set number of social housing units with the support of the Government and within a scheme.

The Ardrew housing development is not the only one affected by the Department's interventions. The Department has confirmed that housing developments under bundles 4 and 5 are also to be reconsidered in the context of the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA. I can see why that might be necessary.

The developments affected by these reviews consist of 60 social homes at Oldtown Mill in Celbridge, County Kildare; 99 social homes and 32 affordable homes in Coolaghknock Glebe in Kildare town; 104 social homes in Rathasker in Naas, County Kildare; and 98 social homes and 40 affordable homes in Rickardstown in Newbridge, County Kildare. This sets the scene in Kildare alone.

Returning to the Ardrew project, over 800 people are on the housing list in the Athy municipal district area. That is only one part of the county. There is a desperate need for four-bedroom units based on medical and overcrowding assessment and need, and they have been validated. Some of these units would have been four-bedroom. The Department has decided to reconsider all aspects of bundles 4 to 7 in the Kildare County Council area.

There is a crisis. There is grave disappointment at the lack of progress. The fact that the Minister and the Department have agreed to reassess all of these at such a late stage, particularly with regard to Ardrew where people were ready to go, is very disappointing.

I acknowledge the work of former Senator Mark Wall, who is now a TD, and his councillors. They have really been the advocates of this. I met people on the ground in Athy last Saturday. I am shocked at what I am hearing but, more importantly, what I am seeing and what I have validated from cross-referencing with the Department and Kildare County Council. I hope that the Minister of State will be able to enlighten us on these matters.