Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

The problem is worse in Dublin. Some 1,000 additional emergency beds have been provided in recent years. The problem is no longer with emergency beds, as beds exist for anyone who wants one. The bus run by the city council goes around every night and homeless people are offered such beds. Depending on the weather many people will take the bus one night and not another. The challenge now is to move people out of such emergency beds and into transitional accommodation and then into local authority or independent living houses.

Many people can get their lives together and live in such houses if given a second chance. However, some of them who have addiction problems and others who, sadly, have mental health problems need a form of sheltered accommodation and would not be able for a house or a flat even if given one. However, if we continue with the level of funding aimed at homelessness, we could move many of them back into good independent living accommodation.

The private rented sector was mentioned. Report Stage of the Residential Tenancies Bill 2003 will be taken in the Dáil shortly and I hope it will be taken here in a few weeks. I accept this has been a long time coming and that tenants have had a bad deal for many years with little protection from the law. However, the Bill is very balanced and, after six months as a tenant, gives the right to a four-year lease. It will allow tenants and landlords to go to the new private residential tenancies board rather than the expensive route through the courts. I expect that Bill to come before the House in a few weeks and I would greatly appreciate Senators' co-operation on that matter as it has taken a long time to pass through the Dáil.

We will spend €1.88 billion this year. We are doing our very best on social and affordable housing. If we can maintain the level of house construction — private, social and affordable — in the region of 60,000 to 68,000 for a few years, we should be able to meet the demand that exists. However, it very much depends on how the economy performs and whether more people come into the country or whether we revert to what happened in previous eras when half the people emigrated in their early 20s. The demand for housing and the general economy are linked.

I thank the Senators for the opportunity to debate this. I realise that prices remain high. However, based on the percentage of income used to pay mortgages, houses are affordable. I agree there would be many tears if interest rates went back up to the levels they were ten years ago and it bothers me that the dividend from much reduced interest rates has not been passed on to buyers. The builder or developer has taken that entire dividend. Based on the report of the All-Party Committee on the Constitution, we must look at the land issue. We have had the Goodbody report and the National Economic and Social Council——