Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent) | Oireachtas source

The Minister was talking about void houses. Again, that is very much a matter for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. The Minister said it takes the private sector four to six weeks to turn around a void house, which is correct, and that the local authorities take two years to do it. I accept that the Minister has responsibility for finance and not local government or the environment. Does he agree, however, that if there is such a problem with local authorities, the answer is to strengthen rather than undermine them?

If the local authorities are not delivering as they should be, perhaps they need far more support from central government. During the past 30 or 40 years we have no longer had good local authorities, compared to our counterparts elsewhere in Europe. This is a major problem and I would like to hear the Minister's ideas on it. Given that local authorities are totally dependent on central government for funding, we do not have local government but weak, underfinanced local administration. What does the Minister think about strengthening local authorities?

When asked about the issue of rent certainty and rental markets, the Minister mentioned the risk of interfering with the market. In other European countries there is stronger regulation in this area and it works for the private sector, as well as for the client. Does the Minister think we should learn from other Europeans?

My next point has been raised in different spheres today. The Minister has made the point that our adherence to the fiscal rules is enshrined in the Constitution and that we could not possibly break our own law. What would he think about appealing to the European Union to allow us breathing space? He mentioned borrowing money recently on the markets at a rate of 0.81%, which is fantastic. Anyone in business would love to be able to do this. It is unheard of in the private sector. The State could request breathing space from the European Union to tackle an emergency and a major crisis in the supply of housing in different forms. Could we appeal to the European Union to be allowed to borrow approximately €10 billion at a rate of 0.81% over ten or 20 years without being caught by the 3% rule? We would not be the first in the European Union to be given some breathing space. We have been very good boys. Does the European Union care about individual countries, especially smaller smaller member states such as Ireland? Does the Minister think it would be a good idea to appeal for a break in this area?