Paul Bradford (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I have sympathy for Senator Darragh O'Brien's comments on electricity prices. We need an urgent debate on the broader cost of living. The current economic equation in which we dwell - there is a general public acceptance - means that people have less money in their pockets and, therefore, less disposable income at the end of the week or month. We all wish that was not the case.

The other side of the economic equation is that it should not be impossible for a broad range of services, including electricity, gas and all utility companies, to deliberately force costs down. We have often discussed costs in terms of health insurance. The response to every increase in charges for hospital and GP care and the provision of healthcare was to simply accede to requests by the insurance companies to increase their prices. We urgently need to address the cost of living. As wages have taken a huge hit and the taxpayer must carry a huge burden, it is unacceptable that companies that provide the necessary utilities of life maintain and increase their profits.

This morning I read the words of welcome for the fact that house prices may be increasing. It worries me that we want to welcome and cheerlead an increase in house prices. The future of Irish families has been mortgaged and their current situation almost wrecked because we viewed house prices as a nirvana. With the current level of house prices we should aspire to have finance made available in order that people and families can buy houses. We need to be careful not to view an increase in house prices as a panacea and believe that the future is rosy again.

I support what Senator Hayden has said. Thousands of people depend on the rental market and it is a fair and reasonable way of life in most European countries. I ask the Leader to arrange a serious debate on housing and its future, including the purchase and rental of houses. We may not be able to have such a debate before the budget but we do need it in the medium term. I am concerned that an increase in house prices could be viewed as a return of economic sanity and progress. House prices led to economic insanity and I would not want us to go there again.