Catherine Byrne (Dublin South Central, Fine Gael)

I thank Deputy Lynch for tabling this amendment. The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill is long awaited. When I served the inner city for nine years as a city councillor, there were 18 flat complexes, three of which have now been demolished. I pay tribute to the people living in those flat complexes for the way they have lived, sometimes in very difficult times, such as when they had problems with maintenance.

I always found, in all the of the complexes, genuine, decent Dubliners who were rooted in the communities where they lived and, above all, cared about each other. It is sad to think it has taken this long for an amendment such as this to be tabled in a housing Bill. When my mother and father bought their house on Thomas David Street in 1976 for £3,000, Tyrone Place was across the road. Tyrone Place is still there today and was built 47 years ago. I know people who live there - I grew up with their children - and are still paying large rents.

"Mr. B" has lived in his flat for 47 years, pays €60 per week for it and is 79 years of age. His family are all long gone and have moved on but he is still there. "Mrs. K" has lived in a flat complex for 50 years. She lives there with her husband and they are paying €92 per week. Their family is long gone.

Ashgrove Centre on Cork Street consists of maisonettes. In 1988 the council promised the residents they could buy the maisonettes. They signed the agreement papers and at the last minute the rug was pulled out from under their feet, leaving them desolate.

I have served on the city council for the last nine years, with other people such as Deputy Ó Snodaigh, and we have examined how housing and flat complexes are run. It is very sad that people were not allowed to buy their own property. It would have made a major difference to people's lifestyles and those who have already put a lot of money into their property would have something to hand on to their children in the future.

It is a joke not to put this amendment into the Bill when we have gone this far. These people have rights. The people who live in flat complexes and maisonettes for generations have been faithful tenants of Dublin City Council and other councils. They have been left waiting on the sidelines and have not been allowed to take part in the process.

If nothing else comes out of this Bill the people who live in complexes in Dublin South-Central, including Tyrone Place, Basin Street, Islandbridge Court, Sarah Place, Mary Aikenhead House, Oliver Bond Street, Watling Street, School Street, St. Audeon's Terrace, Meath Place, Dolphin House, Summer Street, St. Teresa's Gardens, St. Michael's Estate and Bernard Curtis House and a few others, should be given the opportunity to be able to invest in the property in which they have lived and from which they have built up the community. It is a reflection on how we view people in society. It is sad that people I grew up with and who were my mother's neighbours and friends are still no further advanced in owning anything for themselves. They have been faithful tenants of the council and, above all, they have made exceptional communities, which is why people are still living in these complexes after 50 years. If nothing else is to be changed in the Bill, this is a real opportunity for the Minister of State to stand up and be counted.

I commend Deputy Ciarán Lynch for putting the amendment forward and the many Members who have spoken on it. In my short time in the Dáil in the past two years, I have raised the issue on two or three occasions. I ask the Minister of State to go back to the drawing board, to reconsider and to accept the amendment. If many people will never own their own property because they are too old, he can at least give a future to their families who are living beside them in their communities.

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