Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I would like to consider some of the points made by Senator Terry. She made a good point about the timing of the proposed referendum, which is detracting from local issues. Many people who have grievances about local authority housing policies, for example, are focusing on the referendum as a solution to such problems. That is not right, especially as the vast majority of houses are not allocated to foreign nationals. I do not suggest that those who are disseminating such misinformation are engaging in racism. The proposed referendum will not help to clarify why an insufficient number of council houses is being built, for example. Better policies and better delivery by county councils are needed. Such matters will be forgotten if people's attention is focused on the referendum and if they consider that local authority issues will be resolved by a constitutional amendment.