Paddy McHugh (Galway East, Independent)

I am glad of the opportunity to speak on this Private Members' Bill put forward by Sinn Féin. The Bill seeks to reverse the unforgivable decision of the Government to row back on the most desirable elements of Part V of the Planning and Development Act 2000. I put on record previously my admiration for the work of the former Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, who brought forward very laudable measures in Part V of the 2000 Act. He indicated his commitment to social integration, his desire to eliminate ghettos and a new approach to residential development. The action of the former Minister, Deputy Noel Dempsey, was courageous. By taking such actions, he had to take on vested interests, the big backers of his own party and influential people in his party. He had the commitment, foresight, conviction and courage to press forward and implement what he firmly believed in.

What a let-down it was when his successor, the former Minister, Deputy Cullen, who was not a wet week in the Department, completely undermined his predecessor and introduced measures which effectively undid the very good work of his predecessor. The former Minister, Deputy Cullen, did what his predecessor refused to do, namely, he capitulated to the might of the property developers who his predecessor had the courage to take on. The farcical situation in which we find ourselves as a result of the former Minister, Deputy Cullen's, capitulation is that a developer is no longer required to provide the 20% social housing element on the relevant site but can provide lands for the local authority in another area miles away from the specific site. That surely is the nub of this issue.

The big developer with his extravagant houses and exorbitant prices would not countenance the possibility of rubbing shoulders with the ordinary people of Ireland and the former Minister, Deputy Cullen, obliged. The 20% social housing requirement can now be provided miles away. In Galway, for example, the land was provided 30 miles away from the specific site. That is a scandal. This legislation encourages segregation in housing and supports the continuation of a two-tier society. Now enshrined in legislation is the position of the high and mighty in their big mansions in gated developments, consumed with a sense of their own self-importance and a revolting view of their superiority over their fellow citizen, many of whom are banished to live in areas which have been deemed unsuitable for the high and mighty by the big developers and the former Minister, Deputy Cullen.

I fully support this Sinn Féin Bill because if we are serious about providing social and affordable housing in an integrated manner, we must restore the obligations which existed under the previous Part V.

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