Ivana Bacik (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I also listened to Fr. McVerry at lunch time but if I could make my point, the Minister, Deputy Kelly, was very clear that this was part of a much bigger social housing strategy the Government is pursuing which will enable the availability of 35,000 units by 2020. It is a much bigger picture when one looks at the other ways in which housing units will be made available, including, as the Minister emphasised this morning, tackling the issue of voids - vacant units that are in council ownership. Fr. McVerry fairly acknowledged that it is not just for the Minister to direct policy on this but that councils need to take a lead on it and take greater responsibility. We saw recently Dublin County Council behave appallingly in vetoing a proposal that would have seen quite a number of housing units swiftly made available in the north inner city. There was a display of "NIMBYism" in the council in that vote. We must be careful about where to apportion responsibility, and Fr. McVerry acknowledged that it was welcome to see the focus on construction.

It needs to be said also that this is the first major investment in local authority for many years. There was huge neglect of this area during the boom. Waiting lists were allowed to grow over the boom years and there was a stalling of social housing construction under the previous Fianna Fáil-led Governments. We are finally seeing an effort being made to tackle this serious problem, and I very much welcome that.

I welcome the announcement by the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, Deputy Coveney, that the LE Eithnewill be dispatched to assist in the rescue operations in the Mediterranean. I commend the Italian Coast Guard in particular and all those involved in the rescue of 6,000 migrants in the Mediterranean Sea over the weekend. Huge numbers of people took to the seas and were rescued, with very few lives lost. It is a tragedy when any life is lost but it is certainly welcome that much larger numbers are being saved.

I ask the Leader for a debate on privacy law. We had an excellent debate over the weekend at the Burren Law School in Ballyvaughan, County Clare, in which I am involved, on the need to ensure a balancing of privacy rights and the right to freedom of expression. A privacy Bill has been drafted but it has been in abeyance for some time. I would like us to have a debate on that issue in the House in due course.