The Minister for Public Expenditure told Cork Chamber's Breakfast Briefing that tackling the housing crisis - in all its forms - is a top priority for Government.
Minister Michael McGrath was responding as it was put to him, that while there are ambitious plans for Cork under the Ireland 2040 framework in terms of growth and new jobs, concerns have been raised about the delivery of accommodation in particular in the Docklands area.
The Minister acknowleged that there is a major viability challenge however he says the Government is determined to progress on the Housing for All plan.
He reminded delegates that €360 million is being made available to Cork Docklands under the Urban Regeneration and Development Fund.
"In the case of the Cork Docklands €360m in the form of the enabling works that will help to get that done, will improve the overall viability and attractiveness of building apartments in the city centre.
"I think that public investment, in addition to this new cities fund, which is designed to address those viability issues, can allow us to make progress.
"But it's not a small challenge, and the viability gap is not a modest one, and we're throwing a lot of public money at this to see if we can make it work."
