Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)

I am all alone on the Fianna Fáil backbenches, but I will not panic. I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, to the House. I hope he will not be offended if I applaud the work he is doing in the housing area. I am always happy to support his work in that area and in his other portfolio, in which he has responsibility for the drugs strategy and community affairs.

I listened with interest earlier to the fair comments of the new Fine Gael Member for Meath, Deputy McEntee, during the debate on the Garda Síochána Bill. I was glad to hear him praising the work of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Deputy McDowell, as I have done on many occasions. I compliment Deputy McEntee on his contribution. Perhaps Fine Gael is changing by giving an opportunity to people who will express honest and fair opinions.

I compliment Deputy O'Dowd on introducing the motion before the House. I am always happy to speak on Private Members' business because it is important that we should discuss the issues of the day. I do not doubt that the issue of housing, for which the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, is responsible, is among the issues of the day. I am happy to support the Minister of State, who has visited Tallaght and other parts of the Dublin South-West constituency on a number of occasions. I hope he will visit the constituency on many further occasions to bring much more good news to the area during the 800 days which remain before the next general election.

It is important to point out that Dublin South-West has a relatively young population. The constituency includes many places other than Tallaght, which is the third largest population centre in the country, such as Firhouse, Templeogue, Greenhills and Brittas. Many young people come to my constituency clinics every week to discuss housing issues. While some of them are seeking improved housing provision, many others speak about the issues raised in the Government's amendment to this motion. I refer to matters such as rent subsidy, homelessness and problems of anti-social behaviour. In the short time available, I intend to discuss some of those issues.

The Minister of State has my full support as he continues to develop housing programmes in co-operation with the various local authorities. South Dublin County Council has taken the Minister of State's advice in recent years by implementing a rolling programme that covers many years. It is using public money in a good way to develop its housing stock. Rather than sitting by the telephone as they used to do, local authority officials now know where they are going with the house-building programme. The Government should continue to support the programmes of social and, in particular, affordable housing. The Minister of State should understand how important such programmes are to young people in places like my constituency. I am sure other Deputies will refer to other areas and I have no problem in supporting them.

We should redouble our efforts to tackle the problem of homelessness. I am aware that the problem is found in other jurisdictions, but it is not good enough that people are homeless in this day and age. There is no homeless unit in the Tallaght area. The Minister of State is aware that I often make the point that homelessness is something of an underground problem. One sees people sleeping rough in parks and under the canopy in the priory. It is important that we should understand the challenges we face in this regard. I am sure the Minister of State will not mind me saying that we need to support such people, not only through the housing schemes but also through the involvement of other agencies. It is important that we should do that.

I would like to speak about rent subsidy and other related initiatives taken by the Minister of State, such as the establishment of the Private Residential Tenancies Board and the measures taken as part of the fight against anti-social behaviour. I have told the Minister at other forums that it is important that Members should support such initiatives. Deputies speak about the issues of the day in their constituencies, but I am sure, like me, they often hear people complaining about anti-social behaviour. I will not name areas because I do not want the people to think I am focussing on their localities.

The problems associated with anti-social behaviour, which is found throughout the country, are the responsibility of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform as well as the Minister of State with responsibility for housing. It is important that the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, understands that he has the support of the House in continuing to deal with these problems. He has made some excellent efforts in recent years. He has reminded those who continue to engage in anti-social behaviour that it is not acceptable. Not only do we have to deal with such behaviour in local authority housing estates, but, as I have often said to the Minister, we also have to deal with it in private estates. It is right that those who are encountering problems caused by young people or other anti-social elements in their estates should have the protection of the law and all the agencies and should be entitled to redress.

I do not like to make a distinction between private and local authority estates, but that distinction exists. People in such estates often say they wish regulations were in place to ensure the force of law is brought to bear on those involved in such behaviour in their estates, just as it is in local authority estates. I hope the Minister of State will continue to pay attention to these issues.

There have been improvements in the rent subsidy scheme, but we face further challenges in that regard. I ask the Minister of State to continue to give such issues as much attention as possible. I am aware the matter falls within the remit of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs. During a debate on housing, it is relevant to point out that State funding should not be allowed simply to be put into the black hole that is landlords' bank accounts. We should ensure that people have proper housing. If they cannot afford to purchase private housing, which is a clear issue that we have identified, they should be given as much assistance as possible. There must be some way of ensuring that we do not merely hand out rent subsidies every single week in respect of property that does not accrue to tenants or to the State. Perhaps we should adopt a more radical approach to this aspect of the problem.

I wish the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, well. He has my full support in this area of his remit and in the other work in which he is engaged. I hope he understands the issues I have raised are of concern to communities in Dublin South-West and elsewhere. I look forward to expressing my support for him at the end of this debate.

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