Mary Seery Kearney (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am with Senator Warfield in spirit because the language in the Bill is awkward. I wonder why the phrase "different social backgrounds" makes me so uncomfortable. Perhaps I am uncomfortable because considering that would force me, and all of us, into a place where we recognise that there are different social backgrounds. I looked up "social backgrounds" for the sheer heck of it in preparation for this debate. "Background" is defined in the Collins Dictionary as follows:

Your background is the kind of family you came from and the kind of education you have had. It can also refer to things such as your social and racial origins, your financial status, or the type of work experience you have.

The "social" element of the phrase is an elaboration of that. It brings a renewed focus to the things I have said over the past couple of weeks. There are communities in which there are not aspirations to third-level education. There is an acceptance of a particular role ahead of a person and I resent that. I believe every child in every school in our State should have the aspiration to be anything he or she wants to be, whether that is to go to third level or not. Those children should be able to do whatever they want. We need a recognition that there are social, income and investment differences. We need to ensure equality by discriminating in favour of those who are currently inhibited by their aspirations. If we recognise that and ensure mixed social developments for people with different social backgrounds, mixed tenure, mixed ownership and mixed aspiration, we will have a much enriched community. I feel discomfort at the language in the Bill but the Senator's formula does not fix that. I say to the Minister that between now and the next Stage we could have a rethink of the language. I will not support the amendment but I feel discomfort at the language and we should discuss that. However, replacing those lines with "mixed income communities" does not capture the essence of what is at the heart of the legislation, that is, ensuring we do not segregate or decide that an estate is for one particular demographic. We must ensure that our community is all the richer for having everybody's values and background together in the same living community.