Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have some comments rather than questions at this stage. I thank the witnesses for their attendance. It goes back to tapping into and supporting people who want this to be a success. However consensus building was talked about earlier. We cannot see that in isolation from the political climate in which we live. We have 10,000 people in emergency accommodation today. The criteria are quite strict for emergency accommodation. We have a national housing crisis. The Government has said there is a crisis. There is no dispute over that any more. There was a battle for years over whether or not we had a crisis. We are now at a stage where we all accept there is a crisis. We are singing from the same page. We have to look at it in that context and in the cycle of this Government. On this commitment for a referendum as I said earlier, we are on a countdown time now. Of course people are aggrieved about housing. Why would they not be? People who are working, people who earn €45,000 and €50,000 a year are aggrieved because they cannot access housing. People who work here in Leinster House and have to travel many miles to work are aggrieved because of housing. People who work here and cannot afford to pay rent are travelling 50, 60 and 70 miles a day to come to Leinster House to work. I know these people; they exist. These are the real issues. Therefore it is also going to be a barometer of the opinion polls. We know where the political parties stand on those polls. I envisage this will be quite a tense period of engagement. It will become a plebiscite or a vote of confidence in the Government. That is the nature of these mid-term elections or referendums. I hope it is not an angry one. People have to be robust and engaging because it is a real issue of concern. We have to be very careful about it. As politicians we can only lead from the front and be responsible in terms of our communication. Today's exchange was a classic example of how we can engage and share. Let us not forget that if there was an opinion poll tomorrow, there may be a very different political situation. Were this plebiscite or referendum to take place, I believe it would be a very protracted and angry one, and understandably so, in regard to housing. There is a lot ahead of us but ultimately if we explain it, as Deputy Ó Broin has said it is about example, being positive and bringing those stories to the front. We have a hell of a lot of work to do. If I were leaving here today even just teasing this out we have much more work to do than we even imagine we have. It is going to be an enormous task. It is a Government commitment to hold a referendum on housing and I presume this is going to be the nature of it and we have a lot of work to do.