Mary Fitzpatrick (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I want to give most of my time to those Senators who felt they had little time and then abused all the time they had. First, as Senators Seery Kearney, Garvey and others have outlined, the Bill has been more than two years in the making. Senator Boyhan knows this because he participated in it when we received the heads of the Bill. We considered not only them but the wider Bill extensively through pre-legislative scrutiny. It is not fair to characterise his contributions or those of other Senators or Deputies from the Opposition as having made no contribution to the Bill. I do not believe that is the case and any examination of the facts will show that. There has been ample opportunity for debate. Hours, days, weeks and months were spent by the select committee, which any member of either House could attend. They have direct access to the members of that committee and not one or two amendments but hundreds were tabled.

Let us introduce a bit of honesty into this House and into the record. There have been grossly dishonest and disingenuous contributions not only to the Bill but to every matter that relates to it. In respect of housing, I do not know whether the contributions being made are ignorant, are being deliberately mischievous or are just lazy or caught in a time warp, but the Senators are doing a disservice to the people they purport to represent when they make statements that are factually incorrect. It is not spin or content for a social media post. It is a fact that since this House passed legislation that changed our housing policy, more than 110,000 homes have been built. That is a fact. In the past six months, more than 35,000 homes have been commenced. More than 26,000 social housing units are under construction. There are far too many people in emergency accommodation - we all know that - but more people are being prevented from entering it and more people are exiting it. We need even more to exit it, but the only way that is going to happen is if we have a sustainable plan underpinned by legislation that allows for homes to be planned and go forward, to be commenced and constructed and, ultimately, to be occupied and lived in.

On the use of public land, we legislated in order that the Land Development Agency would use public lands to deliver 100% social and affordable homes. There is no query as to what we are using public lands for. It is there in the legislation. It was passed in both Houses. The Land Development Agency has thousands of homes under construction, and it is worrying that Members of this House do not know that or choose not to acknowledge it. We live in a democracy that is under threat, and if those of us who have the privilege of having a direct opportunity to participate in our democracy do not use that opportunity and privilege in a responsible way, that is very worrying and concerning.

I will speak to one local issue in the context of the amendment relating to Moore Street. Moore Street is in the heart of our capital-----