Fergal Browne (Fine Gael)

I welcome the Minister for Education and Science to the House, although my question does not relate to her Department. I hope she will pass on my concerns to the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern. I plead with the Government to start rebuilding one-bed dwellings. This was the practice in the past, but it has been phased out in favour of two-bed dwellings. An unfortunate aspect of that has been that single people and childless couples are finding it impossible to get housed. The reality is that if a two-bed house is being given out by a local authority, a couple with a child will get it every time ahead of a single person. Building one-bed units will positively discriminate in favour of single people and childless couples.

There have been problems in the past with building one-bed units as they were small and somebody could not stay over if one of the dwellers was sick. I would solve that issue by building the one-bed apartment and make the sitting room a bit bigger than the norm to allow for a sofa bed. An extra person could then be accommodated if that person needed to stay over. Single people, including gay people, are finding it very difficult to get housed by local authorities. I look forward to the Minister's reply.