David Norris (Independent)

Far be it from me to be contentious, but I completely disagree with my good friend and colleague, Senator Dearey. The motion gets straight and clearly to the point and I am very disappointed the Government should propose to amend it in this completely fatuous way. The Labour Party motion contains three elements. The first is that "many completed houses are unoccupied despite a huge demand for social and affordable housing", which is a clearly established fact. On the other hand one needs to be sensitive in these areas because it is not possible simply to take into State ownership willy-nilly housing estates that are incomplete as this might simply concentrate disadvantage in one particular area. It was tried in Dublin and was a big mistake. It is a rather more sophisticated problem than simply suggesting matching one with the other. However, at the same time the facts are established and quite clear, and the first part of the motion is right.

The next part of the motion states that "many estates are still lacking completed roads, pathways and open spaces", which the Government accepts. It is true and there is no argument about that either. The final part states that "there is no clarity around who will pay to compete unfinished estates", which is also true. Nobody knows and no mechanism has been put in place for that to happen although everyone wants it to happen and it is recommended by Focus Ireland and the auctioneers' association.