Micheál Martin (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----and we were acting on that. In terms of the Ukrainian situation, decisions have been taken. Again, we appreciate the constructive role Deputy Bacik has played in terms of giving any potential properties that we can act upon in terms of the call for pledges but also the reconfiguration of existing buildings and development of modular accommodation or as I prefer to call it, rapid-build high-quality housing. Again, that ran into objections and issues. We have to expedite the mechanisms by which we get these projects over the line, which I accept. We even heard this morning on the radio that people have concerns about it and say they want more consultation and more engagement. It is an emergency and we need to get these projects up and running as quickly as we possibly can through both the reconfiguration of existing facilities, which the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is leading, and the development of rapid-build units. We need to do far more of that, more generally, in terms of housing. It could be particularly helpful in terms of dealing with emergency accommodation and the avoidance of homelessness, for example. These are high-quality units. I would argue that they are far superior to some of the existing local authority flats, for example, in some locations. We need to get on with it. We are committed to doing that and refurbishing buildings. The refurbishment programme to date has provided 2,145 beds with another 162 due to come on stream. Buildings with a further capacity 2,805 beds have been identified at various stages of the refurbishment process. All that is under way. There is much more detail but I do not think I need to go into it at this stage.

Deputy Boyd Barrett raised a wider issue in terms of the Taxi Alliance. I cannot be the arbiter of what is safe and what is unsafe. We have expert agencies that determine what they believe to be safe and unsafe in terms of roadworthiness and so on. However, I will take the view the Deputy articulated to the Minister to see if that can be re-examined in terms of moving to a ten to 15-year licence, especially given the difficulties procuring electric vehicles. The Deputy should remember that we are not talking about a normal car here. We are talking about a car that would have had a significant degree of usage. I presume it is a safety issue.

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