Fiona O'Malley (Progressive Democrats)

Again it is the tyranny of consistency in that sense. No Government gets everything right but one needs to recognise what is right and what strategies work and not to talk down the market, as is being done, by calling it a crisis when there is a moderation in house price increases. I am sure the Minister would acknowledge we have work to do in the homeless sector.

I echo Senator de Búrca's comments about the new building standards. They are a credit to the new Minister who has introduced them and are extremely important in terms of building sustainable housing into the future. It is a pity they were not introduced earlier because at this time of record levels of output we have harnessed people with homes that are less energy efficient and that is regretted.

I take this opportunity to speak about a new heart for Dublin which is a proposal my party was interested in driving. It is about building new sustainable communities and particularly in Dublin high rise apartments. Senator de Búrca referred to the importance of sustainable communities. They are homes where people can live in apartments throughout their lives while rearing children and into older age. The new heart for Dublin proposal and the public land available in the docks area provide us with the opportunity to build a whole new quarter for Dublin. Rather than do as is being done in Galway, building housing estate after housing estate, and copying the mistakes of the past, we have the opportunity in Dublin to build a sustainable new city in the docklands area.

On the question of stamp duty, the Minister has been consistent. He has constantly told us he will not amend it. I accept the point that it generates much income and contributes to the running of the country. At the same time, when the stamp duty is equivalent to two or three times the average industrial wage we need to think twice about the level of it.