Malcolm Byrne (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I agree with comments from my colleagues. I know Senator Moynihan is genuine in her belief about the provision of public housing but I was disappointed with the Labour Party's approach to this. It stated that following the establishment of the Land Development Agency, it would have compulsory purchase powers and would be able to take over large tracts of land in areas such as the Phoenix Park to turn into public housing.As Senator Casey outlined, there are clear safeguards and protections in place in legislation today. As Senator Murphy said, it is unfortunate that this approach is being taken. I agree with Senators Fitzpatrick and Boyhan, who have said that there are under-utilised buildings on many Office of Public Works, OPW, lands and not just in the Phoenix Park. We can be more imaginative in using those. For a long time, there has been talk about an official residence for the Taoiseach. Why not use some of the under-utilised buildings in the Phoenix Park for that purpose? I do not necessarily expect the Minister to comment directly on that. There are many under-utilised public buildings. We could be more imaginative in terms of how we use them. It was unfortunate that the LDA was presented as seeking to take over some of this land that is valuable to all of us.