Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

It remains to be seen if we will achieve the objectives that we want to. However, I agree entirely with the opinions expressed by my colleague just a few minutes ago. It is sad. We have had many debates on this subject and we still do not seem to be able to break through the glass wall. We know what should happen. We all talk about it. Yet we do not seem to make it happen. With no disrespect meant, the Opposition makes its contribution as well. It seems to be on the same track. I am sorry that Deputy Boyd Barrett is not in the House now. He understands this issue as well and he agrees, but of course he has a different way of going about it because he has the disadvantage of trying to further the cause of People Before Profit. Those of us who are longer on this earth know that those who operate on that basis will get plenty of work, but they are not going to get too many jobs to do on which loads of people will be paid. Likewise, with Sinn Féin. Its members understand the situation. They tend to politicise this issue to a greater extent and that is grand for those in opposition. At some stage, however, the party may be called upon to resolve the problem at the coalface and then it becomes a serious problem. That applies to all those Deputies who operate on a purely political basis from an opposition point of view.

I agree with many of the criticisms made, however. I and the Ceann Comhairle have come through periods where this kind of issue featured on many occasions, for example, in the 1970s, the 1980s, the 1990s and the 2000s. It looks now as if we will have to go through it again. That is as it is. We had the economic crash and that seriously derailed the ways and means of having a short-term resolution. By the same token, whatever happens from here on in must happen in real time, because the public will not allow, accept or countenance a long-drawn out situation regarding discussion of the whys and wherefores of what will happen if we do this or that.

Let us look at the situation in this way. An Teachta Tóibín mentioned something about it taking eight years to make a decision about a development. That is not a farce, it is true. It takes that long. It is a farce, however, insofar as the people waiting on the outcome are concerned. It is an absolute atrocity that this kind of thing should happen. Regarding the time it takes to do any of these jobs, it should be around two months. It is as simple as that. If it cannot be done in two months, then we should facilitate the public by saying that it will go up for tender and let us do it in that way. Either we can do it or we cannot do it, in which case we should admit that it cannot be done.

I seldom raise an objection to housing and I know the Ceann Comhairle is the same. If I do raise an objection to housing, then that is to tweak, relocate or shift the boundaries of that housing project, or whatever the case may be. Of course, this kind of coverage can be abused as well. For example, some time ago I saw somebody’s window looking into the back garden of somebody else’s house. Something like that is not supposed to happen in the planning process, as we all know. We were all told about what constitutes good planning. At this stage, we know what good planning is and what it is not.

I also came across a recent situation concerning a health facility. There was nothing wrong with it otherwise. It was a fine facility. Based on it being a health facility, though, all of a sudden the local authority and everybody else seemed to feel that it should get a walk through or a walk over regarding planning permission. This is in the self same area where the local people who have lived there all their lives, the indigenous population, are being refused planning permission left, right and centre. When people start to talk to me about this issue, the aspects to be considered on the one hand and on the other and then tell me that I do not understand that this is an important issue and all that kind of thing, I then ask those people if they would accept such a situation. I ask them if they would accept somebody building a block of houses at the back of their houses that overlook their garden walls and if they would be happy about that. The answer will probably be something along the lines that the people involved do not really live in the area, but 20 miles away. Of course, we know all about that.

Therefore, we need a long debate about this issue. The stilted kind of debate that we get in this type of situation is not sufficient. That is not the fault of the Minister or the Minister of State. I know they understand this issue and are manacled in the same way we are.

We must assert ourselves as elected representatives who say this is the way it is supposed to happen and this is what it states in the legislation. We must ask if people have a problem, and if they do, they should step forward so we can try to resolve it.

I could go on, as I know the Ceann Comhairle could. It must be very frustrating for him to sit there and not have the opportunity to speak on the matter. We have spoken about this many times in the past on the local authority and in this House as well. The improvements applying to the work of the Residential Tenancies Board are fine. Not all landlords are abusive of their tenants. There is a cohort of landlords who have accommodated tenants and provided special arrangements, as if the tenant were a family member. They continue to do that but do not ever get credit for it. They are moving out of the system, replaced by people with just one characteristic in common. This is where the ideas of Deputy Boyd Barrett come in, as such parties only have profit in mind. They should not have unlimited profit and that is the point. We have a position being reached where profit is stopping others from getting into the system.

I had somebody in touch with me today seeking what used to be called a local authority loan under the 1966 Act. That person has €100,000 saved but has no chance of getting the required loan. It is crazy stuff. The Rebuilding Ireland loan or what used to be the local authority loan must be brought together in such a way as to deal with such a person not in six months or six years but in a couple of weeks. We must facilitate such people not because they have been refused by the banks; they should not have to wait for that. The individual circumstances should be examined with a view to ensuring the requests can be met in the shortest time possible.

I know the Minister of State understands the matter and we have spoken about it already as well. There must be a crowd of people somewhere laughing at us, knowing we cannot break through that glass wall. For once in our political lives, we should identify this problem, which relates to taxation and affects wages and incomes all over the country. It is a reason people do not want to come to this country to fill the jobs being offered to them. That is crazy. The Ceann Comhairle and I know of cases of people leaving this country because they did not have a house and wanted to get one somewhere else.

I apologise for going on for so long. My request is for us to have a real no-holds barred debate on the matter. Let us deal with it once and for all. Some people somewhere must think we are fools and it is about time we asserted ourselves.

See this speech in context