Paul Gavan (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

We have witnessed our first Bobby Ewing moment in this new Seanad. It is as if our colleagues in Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael woke up this morning as born again social democrats with a lifelong commitment to investment in housing. The reality, however, was not a dream, it was a nightmare born out of an ideology of the hard right, that said the State does not need to invest in housing any more, it can leave it to the marketplace. That is what Fianna Fáil and Fine Gael did and the result was a social catastrophe. Let us remember how we got here.

Having said that, if we are serious about endorsing new politics, here is the first test: is this an exercise in rhetoric or are we serious? If we are serious we should all be able to agree not just on the motion, and I commend Fianna Fáil for the motion, which is well worded, but also on the amendment. If we are not serious about tackling rent certainty we cannot say we want to tackle the housing crisis. If we can endorse this motion and the amendment we can speak with a united voice and be serious about bringing real change and challenging this Government on housing. Otherwise, it is an exercise in rhetoric.