Cathal Berry (Kildare South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Tánaiste for that very reassuring answer, which is great. Something the Tánaiste may not be aware of is that you do not actually need planning permission to build military houses on military property for military families. It really streamlines the process. I am grateful for the answer and agree that in this country we have changed much more profound policies than this. We have changed laws on contraception, divorce and marriage equality, and they have all turned out to be good changes. They were the crises of the past. The housing crisis is the crisis of the present. In the past, the State could actually lean on the Department of Defence to deal with those past crises, whether it was the emergency during the Second World War, the Troubles in the North or the pandemic. I think it would be very sad if the Department of Defence cannot be leaned on to address the current crisis from a housing point of view. I am grateful for the Tánaiste's response. It is very reassuring and will make a huge difference to a lot of military families out there who are constantly in my constituency office begging for housing. I very much look forward to working with the Tánaiste on this. I thank him for his response.

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