Mr. Bob Jordan:

We need a stimulus in the budget for housing construction. A total of 93,000 houses were built in 2006. Most people regard that number as too many, but last year it was 8,500 and most people would regard that number as too few. It is the job of the State to step in at this stage. There is an emerging housing shortage. That is now showing in urban areas where property prices are starting to increase and rents are beginning to rocket. It is the job of the State to step in and anticipate needs into the future. It takes time to build housing.

Second, when we talk about keeping people in their family homes, tenants must be included. We should not have a situation where mothers, children and an entire family must be uprooted for the sake of a €10 cut in rent supplement. It is very shabby treatment of people in the private rented sector. Certainly, the rent supplement scheme should not be touched again. If a new scheme is introduced, it should have more security of tenure built into it. In other words, it would accept that these are people's family homes and that they should be protected.