Gerard Craughwell (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I would not dream of it. I am not sure that was a point of order.

Various housing charities such as Threshold and Simon have pointed out there is a flaw in section 2, as has an eminent lawyer. Accordingly, I will accept that Senator Murphy did not say it; that is fine. I do not know whether the Minister of State can do anything about the 5 km rule at this stage but if he could reconsider it, I would appreciate that. I want to support the Bill and the Minister of State as he brings it forward. I will not vote for the hell of it nor push anything to a vote. What is most important right now is that we protect citizens.

On the wider housing issue, what has gone wrong in this State? In the 1950s, when we did not have a red cent in this country, we built the finest social housing. I recall my father telling me that if a piece of timber with a knot in it arrived where social housing was being built, they would have to take it away. It simply would not have been acceptable.From that point of view I am concerned that we are devolving social housing to housing agencies. We have approximately 500 housing agencies in this country, each with its own chief executive officer and chief financial officer. I admit that these organisations are trying to provide housing for needy people, but do we need 500 of them? Is it time that we stepped back and looked at the State’s responsibility to provide social housing for those who are in need?

It causes me great concern to see the Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights of the Council of Europe say there is no legal framework for the right to housing for families in Ireland, and there are no statistics on the condition of local authority houses. One of my colleagues made the point that we should have the right to a home in the Constitution, but I do not believe we can put it into the Constitution until such time as we are in a position to provide homes for the needy in this country. We are not in that position right now. I fully support what the Senator said about putting it into the Constitution, but we must find the wherewithal to do it and we must have the resources to put it in place.

I could go on, but you have been rather kind to allow me to go on, Acting Chairperson. I apologise to my colleague, Senator Murphy. I was not indicating that he or anybody else saw a flaw in the Bill, but Members of the Government parties have said there is a flaw in the Bill and let those who said it step forward; those who did not are fine.