Michael Collins (Cork South-West, Independent Ireland Party)

This Government has been saying - as did the previous one and the previous two before that - that housing is its number one priority. If so, I cannot understand why it did not take up Independent Ireland's strong advice and policy that this should be declared a housing emergency. This is an emergency. A recent poll in the Irish Independent found 65% or 67% of people said housing is the biggest issue to be dealt with in this country, but it has not been dealt with. The declaration of a housing emergency would have dealt with a lot of areas that have been continuously not dealt with by the Government. It would have given us a chance to reform planning laws urgently, limit irrelevant and vexatious objections, fast-track water and sewerage infrastructure and basically stop the blame game. Everybody is pointing the finger but nothing is getting done. We would prioritise housing projects that have been stuck in limbo.

If the declaration of a housing emergency dealt with that alone, we would start making moves to provide homes for people.

Our biggest trouble in this country is that we have objectors who object to planning permission applications for major developments and one-off developments. They object to sewage treatment plants. In the name of God, the Government has no understanding of how to deal with these people. It has left them to take control of the country. A small handful of individuals have held this country to ransom. The Government should be looking at these serial objectors. Some people have a legitimate cause to object but most are serial objectors. They need to be severely fined. The Government needs to stand up to them because they are bullies but it has accepted that and laid down before them. They have destroyed our country. Developments have been blocked. The sewerage infrastructure that is needed in local towns and villages has been blocked because people who do not live in the area have decided to object to it. The Government has not stood up to them. That is true of one-off planning applications in rural communities. We need to make changes.

At the time of the formation of the Government, there was talk that log cabins would be allowed. Why are we not moving somewhere in that regard?

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