Eamonn Maloney (Dublin South West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

If a discussion like this is to have any benefit, given that we are in a post-building boom period, we must recognise that many mistakes were made in the past by legislators, the construction industry and local authorities. I was a local authority member for 12 years. People must be frank about these things.

The two words the ordinary people on the streets do not want to hear are "building boom" because we all know the stories of what it did to families and individuals. Never again do we want to see a building boom in this jurisdiction. When talking to people about the construction industry, the need for housing etc., and thinking about the legacy, I find the language used interesting. When one talks about that period, people will mention pyrite, ghost estates and difficulties with the HomeBond insurance for people who bought houses nine or ten years ago. This is part of the fallout that frustrates and angers people. That is the legacy.

As I said at the beginning, we all share responsibility for these things, including some bodies not represented here. We will not mention the banks or we will all end up in jail and I do not want to be responsible for that. On a serious level, we have to move towards a regenerated building and construction sector because it cannot go any lower than it is at present. There is a modest revival and whether it is in first gear or second gear it will move in particular directions, but never again, particularly for those of us who are legislators, should we allow a repeat of what happened in recent past.

For the record, as I have said, I was a member of a local authority. I strongly support Part V and strongly support a new affordable housing scheme. I am reluctant to praise the previous Government for anything. However, I credit it with Part V and the affordable housing scheme because, as a local authority member, I saw what it did for people with modest incomes and I saw what it did for people who had no chance of a home - people who were on housing lists. It is the greatest gift in terms of the common good that there would be social housing and that families would have an opportunity to get into a home.

I have only one question because I promised not to go back on what has been said. This has not been mentioned so I will raise it as it was on my list; the rest I will delete. With the expected upturn in the construction industry, given that all the electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, etc., are now in Australia and Canada, what will the industry do about apprenticeships into the future?