Brian Stanley (Laois-Offaly, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Those three amendments were ruled out of order while my other amendment No. 17 was accepted. I am disappointed at the arbitrary way in which those three amendments were ruled out of order.

There is a concern is that will be a return to the development of shoe box size apartments. Dublin City Council has set out guidelines-regulations for Dublin city and it uses the democratic power available to it. However, this Bill will remove the democratic leeway that the council has had. I am not sure that we should have a one size fits all model. I support the building of good quality apartments.

In that regard, the amendment put forward by Deputy Wallace is good. I would question the 45 sq. m size he proposes for a one-bedroom apartment. I do not know if any Minister has lived in a 45 sq. m house or apartment but I did and it is not too nice. The positive aspect of this amendment is that it recognises that if one has a family, one will need a two-bedroom apartment and the size set for it increases to 80 sq. m and for a three-bedroom apartment, the size is 100 sq. m, which would be the size of a standard three-bedroom semi-detached. That is what we want. It is important that other factors are taken into consideration in the amendment, including the storage area. The Deputy is correct in that one does not have an attic in an apartment. People need places to store bicycles and the basics that people use.

The balcony sizes are good because that is important. I visited Rome a number of years ago and I was struck that people almost had small gardens growing on their balconies. They had all sorts of plants and grapes growing on their balconies, which was amazing, whereas here people would be lucky to fit a flower pot on the window sill.

I am concerned there will be a return to shoe box apartments. Even if he says he will safeguard us against all this, the Minister of State might not be in office following the election. The next fellow or lassie who takes over from him could want something completely different and if the Minister of the day is given all this power, we will have no way of stopping him or her. We have witnessed that many times in this Chamber over the past five years. When Opposition Members tried to put forward alternatives, we were listened to on few occasions. The former Minister, Mr. Phil Hogan, listened to us on a few occasions and I have to give him credit for that-----

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