Joe O'Toole (Independent)

Sir Reg Empey made clear yesterday the views of the loyalist and Unionist community in the North on politicians elected to the Northern Ireland Assembly or to Westminster from Northern Ireland having speaking rights in this Parliament. We should discuss this idea in the cold light of day. I am completely opposed to it. However, I wish to distinguish between my views on this issue and opposition to Sinn Féin. I welcome Sinn Féin's involvement in national politics but there are serious issues that need to be addressed. I ask the Leader to allow Members go on the record on that, not in a polemical fashion but in a way that outlines how politics works. Members are representative of the people who elect them to Parliament, and they are responsible for their area. I would like a debate on the problems this would create in the community in Northern Ireland, without people rushing in to take up a pro or anti-Sinn Féin position. It is a question of parliamentary representation and the way it should work.

I want to raise also an issue that has given me cause for concern. In the past week the OECD report was published, and we made reference to it here in the House, which states that Irish housing stock is probably 15% over-valued. If we take that as a starting point and recognise that a European directive comes into play in January which will cover issues such as insulation requirement in houses and the fact that in the greater Dublin area we have built approximately 225,000 cavity block houses in the past eight or nine years, none of which complies with the directive that will be issued from Europe in January. Apparently, builders are looking forward to a period of grace in which they will not have to comply with that directive until, say, the end of 2007 if they have already applied for planning permission. This measure will consign thousands of young couples to buying houses which will not be unsaleable but will be the last to be sold. To put it simply, it means that from January of next year every house that comes on the market will have to get a rating for insulation, and I assure the House that is the way the market will work. I would like to have a debate with the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government as to how we can approach that issue.

I would also like to know the reason Dublin is the only area in the country where cavity block housing continues to be built. I thought it ended in the rest of the country 30 years ago. In simple terms, it is almost impossible to insulate a cavity block house except with a very expensive wall cladding, which destroys everything within the house. This is a serious issue which will affect the next generation. It is a problem we are facing now but which we have been aware of for the past eight years. I want to know the reason for that.