Eugene Murphy (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State is welcome to the House. He, the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, and the Government have really put a lot of work into the Affordable Housing Bill which, despite all the recent brouhaha, was voted through with 101 votes while only eight Members voted against it. I hope the public will take heed of that. For whatever reasons, the Social Democrats voted against it while others abstained. When I think of the brouhaha in the media in recent days from some of those who abstained, I ask myself whether it is a propaganda war.As I said earlier during the debate on the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Bill 2021, there are one or two people in this House who constantly say they are passionate about climate action. Every Member of this House, not just those on one side, is passionate about solving the housing problem. It is not just one section. I admire Senator Mullen's contribution today, which was honest and forthright. I invest much time in trying to sort out housing issues, as do many other Members. There is an absolute commitment to getting this done. As Members of the Oireachtas, if we cannot solve this and put a roof over people's heads, we do not deserve to be where we are. There are huge contributions coming from all sides on this matter. I welcome the fact that so much time is given to it because that is only right.

Senator Warfield is a good colleague and a friend. He is a gentleman. However, the reality is that there are too many objections, particularly from Sinn Féin councillors, to housing developments. Senator Casey referred to what happened recently in Wicklow. It amazes me when one of Sinn Féin's Front Bench spokespersons - not Senator Warfield - goes on television and says this does not happen. It did happen, all over the place. Sinn Féin cannot speak out of both sides of its mouth on this issue. That is the reality. I do not mean that in a personal way against Senator Warfield.

As has been stated, the purpose of the Bill is to give legislative underpinning to the Land Development Agency, which was previously established on an interim basis through a statutory instrument. I fully agree with most of the comments made by the Government side. I again bring people's attention to section 183 and the good way we in which can engage with local authority members and take their knowledge into account. They are not going to run amok. They know well what needs to be done here and they will make a very valuable contribution. We should keep that in mind at all costs.

The Affordable Housing Bill went through the Dáil last night. That was a very important decision. Now we are dealing with the Land Development Agency Bill. I can say with full confidence that we will see a major change in how housing is developed in the months and years ahead. Many people who have struggled, and are struggling, with high rents will be able to afford a house because of everything the Government is doing. I am not saying that everything that comes from the Opposition is negative and critical, but much of it is. Let me make this quite clear. Many people and politicians are investing much time and are doing a lot of work on this, in all the Government parties. Our party meets about this issue constantly and puts in hours upon hours late at night when nobody knows about it. That is being led by Senators Fitzpatrick, Casey and others. I am sure other parties are doing the same thing.

We have to solve the issue of housing. We think of it as a problem in the major cities but as Senator Dolan will know, in rural areas such as Ballinasloe and parts of Roscommon houses that were available for rent at €600 or €700 per month have gone up to €1,200 or €1,400. The Minister of State will know that from his own part of the country as well. It makes perfect sense to bring in schemes, such as those that will now come in under the Affordable Housing Bill, that will put people in houses where their mortgage payments will be far less than they would have paid in rent. I am confident for the future. We are on the right track and we have to have a little patience for this to work. Maybe some members of the Opposition are scared that we are on the right track, that we are going to make progress and solve this. We have two major issues in Ireland at the moment: Covid and housing. I expect that all politicians, no matter what side of the House they are on, would take into account the two crises with which we are dealing. Of course everybody's point of view is very important but we should not be obstructing progress that needs to be made.