Thomas Gould (Cork North-Central, Sinn Fein)

I will bring forward a solution. Right across this Chamber, people have outlined how there are vacant boarded up houses in every constituency. We are criticised by those in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael, who ask where our solution is. This is the solution. It is a genuine attempt to make a difference to hundreds if not thousands of families but the Government has dismissed it. The most disgusting thing about the Government's contribution tonight is it is upset with me and the Opposition because we do not give it a clap on the back or recognise what it has done.

I assume the Minister must be an intelligent man but his understanding of the situation is to say there are no more long-term voids after what the Government did in previous years. If there is a house that has been lived in for 70 years and the keys have been given back, that house requires a serious number of renovations, and not to a maximum of €11,000. The Minister was untruthful when he said local authorities can claim back what they want, once the average is €11,000. That is a cap in anyone else's world. Do not try to cod us.

We want to turn houses around in 12 weeks. The thing about it is we want to get rid of bureaucracy and the red tape. Council staff have to go up and down to Dublin for permission. We want to let local authorities do their job. We want to give local authorities the money and staff to do their job. The Minister comes here and asks why local authorities are not doing it and why houses are boarded up for so long. He is the Minister. He should be answering those questions. No house should be boarded up for years, but they are. I raised this with Darragh O'Brien, who was the previous Minister, and another Fianna Fáil Minister. I raised it at the housing committee. I was at the housing committee today, attended by the Housing Commission, which wants radical reform. This will not solve the housing crisis but it will make a difference for hundreds if not thousands of families.

I invite the Minister, as I invited his predecessor, who did not have the guts to take it up, to walk Dublin, Limerick and Cork with me and some of my colleagues to meet the families who are living next door to boarded up houses, with rats, mice, dumping and antisocial behaviour. The Minister came here and said that the Opposition does not appreciate all the Government has done. All he is short of is telling us, "Let them eat cake". It is not good enough. We have a solution. I want to move that tonight. It is about time the Government took it at face value.

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