Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael)

Exactly, but with no transport, no amenities and unfinished estates in terms of roads, lighting, sewerage, rat infestation and dangerous and unhygienic housing conditions. We must address the issue in some way. We have an obligation to the people we represent to put in place a model that will allow estates to be finished.

I do not necessarily agree with Senator Doherty's remarks. We need a certain amount of speculation and activity in the building market but we have an obligation to look after those who need to be housed as well. The statistics on homeless people have gone through the roof, as have the numbers seeking social housing. We should look at ways in which we can allow people to live in the houses that have been built. Local authorities have an obligation to do that.

Equally, the Government must be creative in its solutions. Perhaps it is time we considered giving some kind of incentive to recently qualified FÁS apprentices or those who are unemployed to complete unfinished houses. Let us create a co-operative effort along the lines of the Niall Mellon fellowship trust where we can be creative in getting estates completed and give apprentices the opportunity to finish their apprenticeships or tradespeople the chance to work. We could even be creative with social welfare and take people off the live register and give them an opportunity to work. There are difficulties in this regard which we must address.

The Minister of State referred to desktop exercises. I hope this report will not be one of them or that it will not be left to gather dust because we do not have the money to finish it. We need to buy into the process.

The Minister of State remarked that there was an overhang. While there has always been an overhang, it was never of this scale. Look at the figures for the volume of houses and units unfinished. I hope we will have a site-specific plan for each estate. To be parochial, Cork city has 21 ghost estates, while there are 284 in Cork county. We must send a message to the many who did not buy because of greed or they wanted second homes but because they were buying their only home. We can argue about the overzoning of land, but that is not the entire issue. Many acres of zoned land have not been developed. The issue, therefore, is the number of unfinished estates. The Irish Times referred to it as being more of a haunted landscape, but I will remind the House of what the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Innovation, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, stated in this Chamber in his previous incarnation as Minister of State with responsibility for housing. He stated:

Some prophets of doom will claim, even if the housing market has not crashed, that it will do so in the future. There are no certainties. Economic performance will be the key determinant of the future development of the housing market and circumstances can change.

On 10 April 2008 the Leader stated: "Now is the right time to buy ... I will remind the House, perhaps in 12 or 18 months, when prices have again increased by 25% or 30%." He was some prophet in respect of the housing market. The then Minister of State, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, was blind and showed a lack of leadership, but he was promoted to the Cabinet. These are the prophets who are leading the country. Senator Brady stated we should not get involved in a blame game, but disguising and hiding the narrative of where we are would be convenient for Fianna Fáil. We must remind the people of the policies that have led us to this point. In some cases, people were greedy, be they developers or individuals who bought second and third homes. My mother, God rest her, had a great saying: "One can only live in one room at a time." I never understood the need to rush to buy property other than my family home. We have been far too lenient when it comes to bonds. Developers were allowed to get away with it long before the crash. We will rise from the malaise and the economy will blossom again, but I hope people will be held to account and take responsibility for what they have done.

I welcome the report. It marks the first step and we have a long way to go. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Cuffe, for attending the House to discuss it.