Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, will launch the housing strategy sometime next week. The launch of this major policy document on social and other housing will be significant. The Minister for Finance, Deputy Michael Noonan, is examining the tax arrangements for vacant sites. I will talk to him about it and come back to the Deputy later.

The Deputy asked detailed questions about specific elements of housing regulations. The Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Alan Kelly, is examining at regulations that impede the ordinary work of those involved in the construction of good quality housing. I will ask him to come back to the Deputy on this issue specifically which is one of concern. On the other hand, rather like the Central Bank, one needs a proper system of regulation and inspection. Someone either buying or renting a house has no serious control over the building project. He or she relies on the planning laws and the inspection and powers of the local authority to be their guardians. I hope that not just the local authorities but also the construction industry have learned from the lessons of the collapse and will be committed to quality building. I also hope they will not leave people in the difficult situations I have seen of problems with the poor quality of building and insulation, particularly noise insulation in apartments. While I will discuss this issue with the Minister, perhaps the Deputy might table a parliamentary question on it to have a more detailed discussion at Question Time with him. It is an important social issue that people have homes and can bring up their children in homes that they can rent on terms they can afford to pay. One of the oldest slogans in Irish politics is, “Security of Tenure”.

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