Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

-----is create the climate in which jobs can occur. This Government is a master of the broken promises that Senator Burke referred to, and of spin. People need and are entitled to more, particularly in respect of housing. We have heard a great deal recently about the controversy within the Government about one small segment of housing provision, important as it is but we have not seen real commitment. Waking up almost five years into its term of office to a crisis in housing provision is not good enough. We urgently need the commitment of capital expenditure to building council houses. That needs to be done immediately and as a matter of urgency.

We may have to streamline the regulations and the costs. I left local government ten years ago. At that time the county had practically no waiting list. It was not an issue. Now, people in Wexford must wait ten years before they have a hope of getting a council house or being seriously considered for one. That is not good enough. Belatedly, I appeal to the Government to make every effort to tackle this issue.

I welcome an article in The Irish Timesyesterday, which I hope signals a more balanced and nuanced approach with regard to the protection of life. The article was written by people who dealt with the Gosnell case in the United States. It was an appalling case. People who are pro-life and pro-choice could do nothing other than condemn it. It starkly sets out what abortion is. Many people are talking now about the repeal of the Eighth amendment of the Constitution but what they are really talking about is abortion. What is abortion about? Abortion is the sundering of the bodies of unborn babies. I would recommend that article to anybody here, whichever side he or she is on, who may have to face this topic in the future. It is enlightening. That needs to be central in the focus of the debate we will have. I hope The Irish Times will continue to be much more balanced because it has been little less than a pro-abortion publication for many years. I would very much like RTE to follow that initiative. It is essential that we have that debate. I ask the Leader to consider having a debate in this House on the topic.