Victor Boyhan (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome Deputy Richard Bruton.

I will start with public consultation for the general scheme of the Seanad electoral (university members) (amendment) Bill. Maybe there is a slot for Richard there. There is a public consultation. I happen to sit on the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and this area falls into our remit. We will inevitably do pre-legislative scrutiny of the Bill, which the Government approved last week. It agreed to have a four-week period of public consultation on just the scheme; there is no Bill yet. My ask today of all Senators is to lobby and engage with their respective political contacts. Four weeks is frankly not enough. Tomorrow will mark one week since this announcement, and we have only three more weeks. The close of the consultation is at 5 p.m. on 14 June. There is a European election campaign going on, but the consultation is bigger than the politicians, so I suggest that there should be an eight-week period of consultation. I conveyed that message to the officials in the Department when we met them yesterday for a briefing on the scheme. It is only fair, right and proper. We have been talking about Seanad reform for years, and now the Department suggests we would have a four-week public consultation. Frankly, it is not enough, but that is a matter for the Government, and that is my ask today.

I also want to talk about the Housing Commission and its report. It is a very interesting body of work. The Taoiseach has indicated that he may be in a position to publish it today. It is important because the commission has made many recommendations. It is a 200-page report. It consists of 80 recommendations. It refers to the interventions of the Government in the housing sector and to fundamentally systemic failures in the delivery of housing. It goes on to refer to advocating for a land price register to increase transparency, encouraging public participation and planning processes and delivering enabling infrastructure in housing construction.It also talks about greater public engagement with the planning process. We have a massive planning Bill coming before the House and there may be potential for that. I do not want to be critical because I think the Government is making progress, slow as it is, but it is important that we have a debate on the commission’s work and recommendations.

Finally, on a positive note, I salute Dublin City Council and the Government for the opening yesterday by the council of 71 new social houses in Springvale Grove in Chapelizod. That is an achievement. It is difficult. There are a lot of obstacles to delivering new housing. I acknowledge that. These are amazing units, built using a light steel gauge manufacturing process, which is a new technology. We must always be to the fore of new technology and innovation to deliver much-needed new homes. It is important to acknowledge the importance of that. I thank the people involved in the delivery of those important social houses.