Michael McCarthy (Labour)

That is the position even though the Government which gave a specific commitment on this issue to one of the strongest organs of representation in the country. It is disappointing because there is a great deal of merit in that concept.

In the past couple of years, in particular the past seven years which correlates with the term in office of the current Fianna Fáil-Progressive Democrats Government and its predecessor which was not as mean, house prices have increased by nine times the rate of inflation. That is worrying. In 1997, people could buy a house in Dublin for between £90,000 and £98,000. Now, the minimum price is €300,000 to €350,000. That creates enormous difficulties and great social problems. History has recorded that people went out to work early in the morning and returned well after midnight. That was part of the Industrial Revolution, a damning indictment of any society. Yet, in the post Celtic tiger era things are pretty much the same. Young couples are getting out of bed early, dropping children to childminders, if they can get one at an affordable rate, or family relatives at 6.30 a.m. or 7.30 a.m. and are not returning until late in the evening. That is just to provide a basic standard of living. The bulk of the effort is put into paying a mortgage. What kind of society allows that to happen?

Quality of life is an issue of concern to people. One of the most fundamental rights in this country is the right to own one's home, the right to have a house. A worker working 16 or 18 hours a day, all daylight hours, to provide means to pay for that home, is a sign something is seriously wrong. It affects family and social life and is a shocking indictment of any society.

There are ways to deal with this issue. The All-Party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution worked very hard and delivered a fine report on house prices. I ask the Minister of State to state the Government's intentions regarding the report. We have a duty to our fellow citizens to ensure that the report, which addresses these issues in an appropriate manner, should be implemented in full. The Kenny report published a number of years ago made some similar sweeping recommendations. It is important these reports should not gather dust on a shelf but are read and implemented and have a meaning for people. An infrastructure should be put in place to ensure that young people can be housed.

On the question of the administration of schemes there is an unhealthy discrimination against the single applicant, in particular the single male. I am aware it is down to the local authorities and the decision-making powers lie with the county manager. The Minister of State can do little about the matter but it should be examined. A good scheme existed in my home town, Dunmanway, whereby the county manager decided that eight two-bedroom bungalows would be allocated to single, elderly applicants, slightly older adults, to be politically correct. It was a good scheme. People who had been on the waiting list for eight or twelve years were finally accorded their one objective in life. They were people who could not afford to buy or build and were living in very bad conditions of accommodation. They were finally allowed a house. This decision was as a result of much debate and ongoing begging and beseeching on the part of the officials. An infrastructure should be put in place to ensure equity in the allocation of housing units.

The bulldogs of greed and bastions of selfishness, the greedy developers, are holding onto prime development land. That is one of the significant contributing factors to the escalation of house prices in this country in recent years. A select number of people have this land and are effectively sitting on it. It affects supply and demand, which impacts on house prices.

There has been good co-operation between the Minister of State's Department and voluntary housing associations. A good number of schemes have been produced by voluntary housing organisations. Subsidised land or land purchased by the Department is handed over to them and they build houses at affordable rents. There may be issues in individual areas but, generally speaking, it lets the local authority off the hook. There should be a combined housing policy between voluntary housing associations and local authorities. The local authority in my area can look at the list, vet the candidates and agree the allocation of such houses. It sometimes allows the local authority to concentrate less on a particular type of applicant, knowing that the voluntary housing association may look after that category of applicant.