Thomas Byrne (Meath East, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Tá mé ag roinnt mo chuid ama le roint Teachtaí eile ach níl na hainmneacha agam.

I want to pay tribute to the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. We have heard a lot of people talking about fishing, insulation and rural and urban Ireland, but I have heard very few people talk about what exactly is in the Bill and why it will transform the housing situation in Ireland. This is the most comprehensive affordable housing Bill in the history of the State. In fact, it is the first affordable housing Bill in the history of the State. That is what this Government is doing.

The Bill and Government policy will mandate the direct building of local authority affordable housing. It will mandate and permit a national cost-rental scheme and a national shared equity scheme and expand Part V to 20% to include affordable housing. That is what is going to happen. The vast majority of that cannot happen without this Bill. As has been said by Deputy Matthews, a large number of amendments to the Bill were put forward by Opposition and Government backbenchers and were accepted by the Government in a spirit of generosity knowing that this is a national crisis that we have to solve. The Bill is going to be transformative. I cannot wait until it is passed and it will then be time for all of us to make sure it is put into action.

We all must look at our attitudes to housing and examine whether housing developments should be objected to. A Sinn Féin Deputy wondered earlier whether there was any point in building housing in a field in Kildare. I think there is a point in building houses in fields in Kildare and other places. To say that the infrastructure is not there is not an excuse. We need to put the infrastructure in place, but it is wrong to say that it is a reason to oppose housing. We must build housing with facilities and infrastructure and allow developments and construction to proceed, which will improve our economy and get people into family homes.

I object to the comments from Independent Deputies that rural Ireland is being put at risk. It is a very dangerous argument for rural Deputies to complain that they seem to be paying for everything or that not enough is being spent in rural Ireland. The truth is that Ireland has a very redistributive tax system, not just between rich and poor but also between urban and rural. We are a better country for it. I support the Bill. Deputy O'Donoghue complained about highly educated people. Further and higher education and second and third level has been key to this country's success, and that will continue. It is wrong to denigrate it.

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