Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

We do not dispute they are the owners of the property. What we are saying is that the legislation, as it is structured, prevents them from selling, even if they want to sell, but let the Minister of State correct me if I am wrong. Will she change the legislation so that if they are willing to sell and if the local authority in the area is of the view they should sell, this will be possible? We want her to enable this to happen, not to continue to prohibit the sale of such housing. We want her to reflect the provisions that were made in the incremental purchase scheme that was introduced in the 2009 Act.

I made reference earlier to Margaret Thatcher, God between us and all harm. When she introduced this system of voluntary housing development, initially there was a ban on the sale of these houses, but when John Major became Prime Minister of Britain, the situation changed and the people who occupied the houses were given the opportunity to purchase them. We ask the Minister of State to be as inspired as John Major was and to take steps to do something about this now.

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