Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

I support the proposed Focus Ireland amendment. The organisation asked us to put forward the amendment. In the buy-to-let area, there has been an acceleration in the volume of people receiving notices to quit. The point has been made in respect of commercial properties with the tenant in situ. Commercial properties change hands.

It is interesting that we were talking about emergency accommodation earlier. There is resistance to declaring a housing emergency, although we can see it every day of the week when we walk the streets of Dublin. Large numbers of people, including children, are living in hotel rooms. The figures do not take account of the tens of thousands of people who are living are in cramped conditions, with two or three families in the one house. The idea of not declaring a housing emergency is hard to fathom. It is an emergency for anyone who wants to see it.

We need to refine the word "stakeholders". The stakeholders include the tenants, not just the landlords. Stakeholders are people who live in and who have an interest in a community as well as how it is planned and developed. It seems to me that "stakeholders" has been redefined as meaning people who own large tracts of property and who can impose the conditions under which they are developed or otherwise. The power is altogether unequal. We need to redefine what we mean in this area. Large numbers of people believe they are not included in some of the laws being made. They believe they are not being consulted.

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