Many people are living in very substandard accommodation, be it in the private rental sector or the social housing sector. We need to consider this. There are only two ways to address inequality. One can never fully achieve equality but one can seek to address the problem through education and housing. The housing scheme should be such that everybody should be encouraged towards home ownership. Where there is home ownership in local authority estates as opposed to circumstances in which every home is rented, the standard of living and quality are higher. One sees this in certain local authority estates. We should aspire to this. It is the only way in which we can get people to break out of their poverty trap. The same applies to education. Early intervention and access to education are more desirable than free fees for everybody. Fine Gael has a very progressive graduate tax or PRSI proposal that I hope will be implemented in the months ahead.

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