Michael Finucane (Fine Gael)

In 1997, when the present Administration took office, there was concern regarding the escalating cost of houses. At that time, Professor Bacon was commissioned to produce a special report. His objective was to examine ways to reduce the cost of housing. It is shocking to read that in ten years, house prices have risen by an average of 270%, to more than three times their level in 1996. What action do the Government and the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government intend taking? Will they reconsider the situation to see whether something might be done regarding escalating house prices, which are putting homes beyond the reach of young people, in particular, who wish to get onto the housing ladder?

It is shocking to think that in 1996 house prices in Dublin were running at an average of only €10,000 above those in the countryside. Now they are €130,000 higher, and one sees the daunting task faced by anyone intending to purchase a house in the Dublin area. The Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government has been extremely vocal on many issues. I would welcome his presence in the House to see how he will address the situation. Does the Government have any remedial action planned to stem the rise in house prices?

Since 1997, there have also been 109 murders involving guns; I have left out those not involving firearms. Already this year, there have been 13 such murders and last year there were 21. Inside and outside the House, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform stated quite openly that the phenomenon was the sting of a dying wasp. I would like to know what has happened to that sting, since we have a black market in drugs estimated to be worth €1 billion and an escalating series of crimes, particularly murders involving firearms.

Most frightening in the context of 109 gun murders over those ten years is that the conviction rate is one in six, since only approximately 18 cases have been solved. I recognise that in gangland circles, a vow of omerta probably applies. In such a context, it is probably difficult to track down people involved in such crimes. However, it appears that any time we have a murder, the Minister calls in the Garda Commissioner and there is a knee-jerk reaction. It is almost as if a sticking plaster were being applied for a period. The people want effective strategies to counteract this situation. It is not good enough for the Taoiseach to say, as he did in the other House yesterday, that Ireland is not unlike other European countries because the regimes for dealing with this problem in these countries are far more successful. We must bring this problem under control because it conveys a very negative image of this country. It appears that the drugs lords are smiling at the degree of inaction that exists in respect of taking them out of circulation.