Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Senator's comments and I am certain other Senators will wish to contribute on this important aspect of the Bill which has been overlooked in favour of its other provisions. The impact of this section on the marketplace is potentially greater than the other changes in the Bill. I am sure Senators will have examined the recent statistics on housing and noted developments in the voluntary sector, which is growing significantly. The potential for the emergence of a strong sense of community, belonging and pride is significantly greater in areas where there is a strong element of home ownership. People in such neighbourhoods will look after their property. All these positive features play a major role in terms of social integration. Nevertheless, the Government and the financial institutions can do much more. In some countries, for example, mortgages of 50 and 60 years are available to people who could never afford to take out a 20 year mortgage. This allows people to take a longer term view and creates a strong ownership element with all the important benefits this entails.

Many of the current voluntary schemes, which are letting schemes under the current law, are extremely successful. They are well managed and the residents share a strong sense of place. Local housing committees also play a significant role and positive work is being done. The voluntary sector has proposed that it be allowed to expand its brief in this area in future. It now wants to get involved in affordable housing and shared ownership schemes. The concept behind such a move is that the sector would retain a significant part of the ownership of a scheme, thus ensuring housing units would not be immediately floated on the market at a high price and the people most in need would not lose out.

I have welcomed the approach of the voluntary housing groups. If we do the right things moving forward, and given the possibility this holds, maybe we could expand it further in other areas directly with local authorities to see if we could get a better mix of housing ownership. The figures indicate that sector is growing quite substantially.

This is a fundamental part of the Bill which perhaps, given the other more polarising issues, has been somewhat overlooked. I see this as a huge and equally significant part of the Bill, as the Senator does, if I am judging it correctly.