Fiona O'Malley (Dún Laoghaire, Progressive Democrats)

I commend the Labour Party for raising the issue for discussion in the Chamber. In this time of plenty we should remember there are many people still on our housing lists. In particular, the question of affordability of homes is pertinent. I listened with great interest to Deputy Curran's contribution regarding the property path and what is available. It is extraordinary that South Dublin County Council is able to provide two-bedroom homes for €142,000. I am sure Deputy Gilmore would agree with me in wondering how my local authority area cannot do something similar.

There is much to be said regarding the amount of land available in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown, compared to vast swathes in South Dublin County Council, and other Dublin boroughs. However, we have a particular problem in terms of when we have to carve up the cost of the land. We have extremely expensive sites, and before one brick is placed on another, the cost of the site is more or less prohibitive.

That is from the local authority perspective, but the point is similar with regard to the private sector, with affordability being an issue. All Deputies are concerned with the issue. As the demographics of the population changes, it does not bode well for the community in the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council area that prices have driven young people out of the area. I would give anything to be able to provide something like the property path that South Dublin County Council has. I am glad to be made aware of it, as it is something we should all work on together and get our own local authority involved in.

Government policies must be working as year on year the housing output is at a record level. That is a good achievement in its own right but does not take away from the need for local authorities to provide more affordable housing. A certain amount of work can be done in this regard.

When I chaired the strategic policy committee on housing in my council area, I found it disappointing that people did not appear to want to work together. I was impressed by the work of the voluntary and co-op sectors. However, there was a certain resistance in the local authority in getting those bodies to build houses. It was as if the authority wished to ring-fence and own the houses, or indicate that the local authority built so many houses. It does not matter who builds the houses, but the delivery is important.

I was sorry not to see a greater amount of co-operation between the work of the voluntary and co-operative housing sector. In the North of Ireland and in Britain, tremendous work has been done in this regard. I am a believer in outsourcing, and if professionals are available who know how to deliver cheap and affordable housing, why not let them do it? I was sorry my local authority did not, under the terms of the Part V clause etc., ask the voluntary and co-operative sector to do more work.

The Labour Party has put forward a Bill relating to finishing housing estates. It was unanimously agreed, and we must work on it. That party has my support in getting the Bill progressed. It is in all our interests, and that of the people and the communities we represent, to have it progressed. There is no point in building houses if vibrant and sustainable communities are not being constructed too. I commend the work of the housing policy framework and the building of sustainable initiatives document. We need to bring legislation forward, however. I hope we can progress that particular Bill.

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