Paul Bradford (Fine Gael)

I wish to share my time with Senator Brian Hayes. I am glad the Minister of State is in the House because there is no point in speaking about the Minister of State behind his back or making complaints when he is not present. I am genuinely disappointed not simply by the Minister's speech but by the approach he has taken over the past 12 to 18 months. I debated with the Minister of State in the other House on a number of issues and often listened with interest to his contributions. I genuinely believed he would introduce radicalism and a new approach to his office, which I believe to be the ministry for housing. Sadly he has become a prisoner not just of his Department but of the Department of Finance.

The current housing statistics concerning local authority tenants and those on the local authority waiting lists are exceptionally depressing. Senator Norris spoke about the 50,000 or 60,000 houses being built and they are referred to in the Government's amendment to the motion. The Government is building 5,000 or 6,000 houses in this calendar year or the next. I wish to quote statistics referring to my own area. In the mid-1980s when this country was in the grip of a major economic crisis, approximately twice as many local authority houses were being built.