Dara Calleary (Mayo, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Housing for All plan.

However, as a Mayo man, and for many of us on the west coast, this plan is a misnomer in the context of some of the families in my county, including my friends, neighbours and members of my family, who have to look at the weather forecast to see if it is safe to sleep in their houses tonight, or any night, as a consequence of pyrite. That process is coming to a conclusion and I acknowledge the Minister's commitment to it. We urgently need definitive decisions on that to begin to put this nightmare to an end. It will only be the beginning because there are long journeys ahead.

Housing for All is a plan I welcome. It is different because it is funded. However, staff need to be put in place in our local authorities to deliver and drive it. I do not mean additional administrative staff but additional engineers, quantity surveyors and people who can build these houses. We need to radically change our approach to apprenticeships. What we are doing with them at the moment is a sticking plaster. We need to be more ambitious and to deliver. We also need to put a programme in place to bring our labourers who are working abroad home and to encourage and make it easy for them to come back, so they can relocate and bring their skills and families with them.

Targets need to be published, so the public can see which local authorities are delivering and which are not. The various plans within this document need to be published in a way that is accessible and understandable. I agree with Deputy Cahill regarding Irish Water. We need fundamental changes in this regard, including resourcing and more partnership in delivering. We need more investment in our towns and villages. I particularly welcome the Croí Cónaithe programme but it needs to be driven quickly. As the Minister represents what is, to a certain extent, a rural constituency, he also knows about what Deputy Cahill talked about with regard to rural housing. I feel very strongly about that matter. We cannot allow Housing for All to be housing for urban areas. Housing for All must mean what is says on the tin in respect of giving opportunities for rural people to live in the communities they come from, are working in and were reared in. They have a stake in those communities and in housing. They deserve Housing for All.

Caithfidh mé labhairt faoi chúrsaí pleanála sa Ghaeltacht. Tá fadhb mhór againn le daoine nach bhfuil Gaeilge acu ag teacht chuig na Gaeltachtaí agus ag ceannach tithe. Níl na daoine le Gaeilge atá ann cheana in ann cur futhú sna Gaeltachtaí. Tá sé ag déanamh dochar do Ghaeltachtaí na hÉireann agus don Ghaeilge. Caithfimid é sin a athrú.

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