Joe O'Toole (Independent)

I believe everyone on all sides of this House would sympathise with the points made by Senator Finucane about house prices. We have all witnessed the difficulties in buying houses encountered by family members and their children and friends. However, the harsh reality that Irish people spend more time exulting in the fact that their houses are now worth so much money means that there is not, and never will be, the political will to keep house prices down, despite arguments to the contrary. This state of affairs is appalling but no Government will take the risk of offending people by controlling house prices. I am unsure as to whether Senator Finucane called for price controls. Those in the middle class would be less than impressed by any attempt to hold down the price of their property. This is all they talk about. I do not know the answer to this problem. I strongly agree with the point Senator Finucane rightly and clearly made and it would be worthwhile having a debate on this matter. Such a debate would include contributions from people on all sides of the House on how to address this issue. The Taoiseach argued three years ago that development land is held by a few dozen very wealthy individuals with options in land all over Dublin and that this keeps house prices high because it interferes with the market. I do not know the answer to this problem but I would certainly welcome a debate on it. The point raised by Senator Finucane is very important.

I recently met with the Communications Workers Union to discuss the register of electors. This issue has been discussed on a number of occasions in this House. People from all sides are very concerned about the fact that the register is out of date and unreliable. People change addresses, which harks back to the issue of housing, or change jobs. I am aware that the Government is considering using census enumerators to update the register. I see nothing wrong with this proposal but the people who could carry out this task better than any other group are postal workers, who call to houses every day. Postmen know who lives in a particular house and could update the register annually. They would be prepared to negotiate some method of annually updating the register with the Government. I urge the Government to consider this option and I urge the Leader to raise this question with the appropriate Minister to see whether he would be interested in entering into talks with the Communications Workers Union with a view to using postal staff, particularly those who deliver post on a daily basis, to update the register.