Olivia Mitchell (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the deputation for the presentations. I was trying to get my head around what exactly the organisation does during the presentation. It was only when the deputation came to the recommendations that I began to get a handle on what exactly Habitat for Humanity is really trying to achieve. Reference was made to housing solutions in Ethiopia. I was interested to hear that the organisation has produced a template for sustainable housing using local materials. That has relevance in the village or a small town, but does it have relevance in a city? Deputy Crowe touched on this point. Is the organisation adverting to a planning function? Does it work through Governments? How does Habitat for Humanity ensure that it deals with planning? I have in mind countries such as India or the South American countries where there is already teeming humanity. In these countries people are still pouring into the cities and will continue to pour in for decades to come. At issue is how we plan cities, and it is a complex problem.

One of the recommendations of the deputation half-answers my question. The recommendation stated that Ireland should use its voice bilaterally and in international forums to promote housing policies and interventions that bring lasting systemic change. If only we could manage that ourselves we would do very well because planning is still a major issue in this country. Circumstances are constantly changing. The key is probably to work through individual countries and recognise that there are different solutions in different places. I would like this to be included as one of the objectives for the post-millennium development goals. Then it would be up to each country to concentrate on the issue and identify their intentions rather than simply have a wave of humanity continue to come into cities. Otherwise we will end up with the type of squalor and poverty that we still see so often. Is it really a planning issue that Habitat for Humanity is advocating, apart from the details relating to places such as Ethiopia and Dublin?