Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Senator Coffey made a very relevant contribution on the Order of Business. We need not only a debate on housing but real action on the issue. Thousands of people are living in housing secured with rent allowance or in council housing and they are up to their eyes in debt. At the same time thousands of houses are idle because councils across the country do not have the money to refurbish them and the Government does not have a plan to bring about reform of the housing stock it has available. A debate on housing would be worthwhile and I would like to hear the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Finneran, detail a plan for action that would help the thousands of people in Cork city and county who are on the housing lists.

I ask that the debate on opinion polling be widened. I agree with Senator Ross that there is no harm in opinion polls. I am not in favour of censorship by any stretch of the imagination but there are some opinion formers in newspapers and it seems it is only their view that matters. With one Sunday newspaper, if members of Fine Gael walked down Grafton Street giving out €5 notes or baskets of fruit, they would be wrong. It is about time we stood up to this Sunday newspaper and took it on because it seems only its view matters. Others do not appear relevant.