Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Last week, Senator Ross raised with the Leader of the House the lack of a response from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform on our motion, tabled on 28 May 2003, on the auctioneering profession. The motion was passed by the House and included commitments from the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I also raised the lack of a response three weeks ago and the week before Christmas. I know the Department treats this House with absolute contempt. However, even the Department cannot ignore a motion passed by the House.

A member of the Leader's party in the other House recently raised with me the case of a constituent's son and partner who made a bid on a house in County Dublin. Having agreed on the price, when they returned to pay, they discovered it had been increased by €10,000 and there is nothing they can do about it. A Member on the other side of the House told me the story of a family property that was sold at what was believed to be a low price, only to find out a year later that the auctioneer's brother had a beneficial interest in it. I do not want to open the debate again. However, the two main auctioneering groups are very keen on and supportive of this matter because I am sure they are as appalled by these kinds of stories as the rest of us. We will have no option but to become thoroughly disruptive if this is not delivered by the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform which is ignoring the House and does not want to do this. It is on the business agreed by the House and was one of the few Private Member's motions passed with the support of both sides last year. People on the Government side of the House were as supportive as those on this side. It is not a party political issue and we all need to acknowledge that.

On a related issue, I am told the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has no absolute count of the number of housing starts or completions, that it does not keep figures and the figures it issues now and again are those received from the ESB for house connections, and from organisations such as Threshold. I would like someone to come in here to explain where these figures come from and how they are kept. All local authorities must be made aware of housing starts because of the planning laws and regulations but they do not appear to be required to provide those figures to the Department in order to give a national roll of the number of housing starts, completions and those under way.