Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

My desire is not to take it out but if it is a choice between not taking it out and having the Bill blocked because of a money message, it is something we can explore. This is not just about the cost of private housing for purchase. We now have postcodes in Dublin where even at the discount price for Part V, the local authorities cannot purchase units because they breach the €400,000 cap. We had a crazy situation a year and a half ago in Dalkey, which Deputy Boyd Barrett will remember, when the land component of Part V units was €90,000. The State was paying €90,000 just for the land component of those apartments. We also have an issue in the docks. I do not know what price was offered to the local authority but it was excess of €400,000, which is why Dublin City Council could not make the purchase. Brendan Kenny has said if this trend continues, whole swathes of the urban city centre will not be able to access Part V, which will mean we will not get the social mix that is meant to be part of Government policy. I urge members when we come to deciding in private session how we proceed that even if people think the rate of the levy is too high, we can tease out these issues if we can get to formal Committee Stage. Any move in the right direction would be welcome. We will do everything we can to support the Bill and get it through. Not unlike the Solidarity anti-eviction Bill, there is no point in speaking about these issues here if we are stymied by the money message. If we can find a way around that, it would be very helpful.