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

I welcome the opportunity to make a brief contribution to this important debate. I welcome the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy John Gormley, and wish him well in the new Government. I am glad to note the Minister's interest in this subject. I spoke to him a couple of weeks ago on it and I sensed his particular interest. As other colleagues have said, he knows this is an issue that affects us all across the political scene.

I also wish the new Government well and congratulate the Taoiseach, Deputy Brian Cowen. I make particular reference to Deputies Tom Kitt and Séamus Brennan because they share a constituency boundary with me and previously represented parts of Dublin South-West that I represent along with Deputies Brian Hayes, Pat Rabbitte and Conor Lenihan. I pay tribute to both Deputies and wish them well. I will continue, along with other colleagues, to represent their former constituents in what is now Dublin South-West.

I applaud the appointment of Deputy Dermot Ahern as Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and I wish him well. I listened carefully from the Chair to his speech this morning and was impressed by his grasp of the issue, as were my colleagues in the House, including, I think, those on the Fine Gael side. It is important that this is an issue for all of us, not just those on the Opposition benches. I represent Dublin South-West and this is an issue throughout my constituency.

In recent years Dublin South-West, particularly the Tallaght region, has changed as far as units of accommodation are concerned. There are far more apartments now than there were five or six years ago throughout Tallaght, Firhouse, Templeogue and Greenhills and this has presented particular challenges. Even politicians cannot get access anymore. If Deputy Hayes has cracked how to gain entry to apartments he might share the information with me. I will be happy to co-operate.

See this speech in context