Joe O'Toole (Independent)

The Government is losing opportunities to give some semblance of confidence to people, which needs to be done through discussion and information. The Taoiseach said yesterday Irish banks were adequately capitalised, which is an important statement. That view was not widely shared in this House or within the Leader's party and the media do not accept it. The Taoiseach has received the PricewaterhouseCoopers report on the banks and it would be interesting if he or the Minister for Finance would come to the House and explain how he sees that proceeding.

I refer to an example of the difficulties being experienced. One of the green shoots that we might see in the economy would be if the housing market were to start moving again. This raises the question of how many houses remain unsold throughout the country. The fact that we cannot obtain information in reply to that question undermines the credibility of Government commentators and economists. We have learned enough over the past year or two to forget about what economists have to say because they do not know. They are decent people but let them go off and do what they do academically.

Tom Parlon of the Construction Industry Federation says there are 50,000 unsold houses while the Institute of Property Auctioneers and Valuers states that the number is closer to 250,000, five times the difference. Its members are in the business of buying and selling and one imagines they should know. Meanwhile the CSO states there are 260,000 empty houses nationwide, of which 50,000 are apartments and 50,000 are holiday homes. These apparently are different from unsold houses. However, having done the maths, the CSO figures mean there are 160,000 unsold houses. Homebond is the only body to trump Tom Parlon. That company has allowed 250,000 poorly insulated houses to be built in Dublin since 1998. Its representatives trumped Tom Parlon by saying there are only 38,000 unsold houses. However, they share the same address as Mr. Parlon as they are tenants in the CIF building. Where are we going? That is just one example and I could give more.

The Leader recently raised the issue of small businesses trying to upgrade.