Paudie Coffey (Fine Gael)

I acknowledge the effort the Minister is taking to try to address this anomaly. Fine Gael supports this Bill in principle. We will withdraw this amendment because the Minister has undertaken to address the issue of granny flats before the legislation finally goes through the Oireachtas. I thank the Minister for listening to the concerns raised on all sides of the House. It is important that we listen to the genuine and sincere concerns that we raise on behalf of people living in these situations. We would not do this otherwise.

I wish the Minister well because this is a complex area and it will be difficult to get the wording right but he has the best legal advice available. We will wait and watch with interest as the amendment goes before the Dáil and will welcome it back into this House. I hope it will alleviate the problem and absolve people whose elderly dependent relatives live close to them of the charge. This is a practice that the State and its agencies should encourage at every level.