Jerry Buttimer (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Déanaim comhghairdeachas leis an Aire Stáit nua, an Teachta D'Arcy. Go mórmhór, gabhaim buíochas leis an Seanadóir Norris agus an Teachta Dála McGuinness as ucht an Bhille an-thábhachtaigh seo. In welcoming the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy, to the House, it is my first chance to congratulate my friend and colleague and to wish him well in his new Department and new brief. It is a very important Bill that we are discussing this afternoon. I congratulate Senator Norris and Deputy McGuinness, who is in the in Visitors Gallery, for their work, as well as all those who have worked with them on the Bill.

The important point from today's debate is that we should not allow this Bill to vanish into the ether, as I said on the Order of Business. Notwithstanding that there are different viewpoints on the Bill, there is a need to have not just a conversation but a national conversation. The national economic framework forum met today in Dublin Castle and the Oireachtas all-party committee met on the housing issue prior to the formation of this Seanad. It is important that the overarching aim and spirit of the Bill are what we should all work to achieve, and that means we must abandon the high tax and spend of Sinn Féin, the fiscal prudence of Fine Gael or the catch-all of Fianna Fáil in order to arrive in the middle. This is about citizens of our country being able to be kept in their own homes, being able to buy or being able to work together to ensure we have supply of housing.

In saying that, we must consider the backdrop. I understand the sincerity of Members of the House but sometimes, when I hear Senator Ardagh talk about Fianna Fáil bringing forward this or doing that, I have to wonder whether I am in a dream, because it was the party in government that nearly bankrupted the country. I am sure if T.R. Dallas wrote a few more songs, they would be bestsellers. We are now where we are, however, and what we must do is ensure that we achieve what Senator Norris is trying to achieve at the end of this.

I do not necessarily buy the argument that we should always be looking at our debt burden, although I might not be popular in Fine Gael for saying that. It is about people. It is about ensuring that people can stay in their own homes and that, as Senator Norris said on the Order of Business yesterday, they are not evicted or removed. We should not be going to the courts in this regard. I have a viewpoint which is something similar to that of Senator Norris. Senator O'Donnell touched on the vulture funds in his remarks. Why can we not have some type of co-operative, as Senator Norris said, where people can go to get money and make payments? If we look at what we are paying in rent allowance, housing assistance, hotel accommodation and the whole nine yards, I often wonder what would happen if we had some kind of vehicle whereby citizens could go and take out money and have a type of a mortgage. We are spending a fortune on our budget for all the housing supports, which are needed and which we all support. I am simply posing the question of whether there is a better way of doing that.

Supply is the big issue. We need to look at how we can incentivise the construction sector to provide supply in order to ensure we are doing everything possible-----