Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the opportunity to address this issue. There is no doubt that it has occupied more talking time in the House than almost any other topic. Before I came into the House I saw the Labour Party as the party of fresh, new and ambitious ideas but the motion tabled tonight lacks ambition, fresh ideas and vision, though I do not disagree with a lot of it.

I will raise a few points that Deputy Gilmore and others might like to address. There is no point repeating the facts. Undoubtedly there has been a massive housing construction programme in this State in recent years. It has been driven by a variety of factors, as Deputy Kelleher said, such as changes in demographics and in incomes and the wish of people to own their homes is of great importance. The variety of initiatives taken by the Government are undoubtedly beginning to play a part.

We do not need to clap ourselves on the back for the promotion of the affordable housing initiative. However, Deputy Gilmore's colleague, Deputy Shortall, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government with special responsibility for housing, Deputy Noel Ahern, and I can claim some credit for pioneering initiatives in Dublin North-West to identify, in co-operation with Dublin City Council, untended and unused sites which we encouraged the council to develop for housing for young families. I saw a brochure circulated by Dublin City Council to applicants for affordable housing and it compares favourably with any brochure an estate agent might produce. It has quite a number of houses on the market from Dublin 8, Dublin 3, Dublin 1 and Dublin 11 in our constituency at very affordable prices of between €220,000 and €275,000.

I wish to address the reluctance on the part of many people in the affordable bracket to live in apartments. We still need to sell the idea that apartment living is good and can afford people the opportunities for a full family life provided the facilities necessary for a community are provided. There have been some mistakes and there is no point saying everything is right. I have concerns about the way management companies have often been used by developers as vehicles to cream off additional income from buyers. We are beginning to see what Deputy Kelleher talked about, namely teachers, gardaí, office workers and young professionals opting for the affordable housing market in commuter areas close to the centre of town. I was heartened by a recent consultation meeting in my constituency with the RPA on metro north. We detected interest in affordable housing schemes along the metro line, showing that public transport and good housing go together.

One proposal in the Labour Party motion is to "compulsorily purchase all residential development land in areas where housing is unaffordable, in order to increase the supply of affordable homes". Is the Labour Party suggesting compulsory purchase of land? Has the Labour Party thought through the whole process of compulsory purchase? If so, why do local authorities, which currently are dominated by Labour Party and Fine Gael councillors, not pursue such a policy? In Deputy Gilmore's local authority, 175 homes were delivered under Part V up to 30 June 2006 but €5.521 million has been taken by the authority as payment in lieu of land transfer. We cannot have it both ways. We must grasp the nettle of affordability by being brave, taking strong positions and confronting vested interests. The "not in my back yard" syndrome happens in my constituency and my party is as guilty of it as anybody but it needs to be addressed.

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