This Government has been saying - as did the previous one and the previous two before that - that housing is its number one priority. If so, I cannot understand why it did not take up Independent Ireland's strong advice and policy that this should be declared a housing emergency. This is an emergency. A recent poll in the Irish Independent found 65% or 67% of people said housing is the biggest issue to be dealt with in this country, but it has not been dealt with. The declaration of a housing emergency would have dealt with a lot of areas that have been continuously not dealt with by the Government. It would have given us a chance to reform planning laws urgently, limit irrelevant and vexatious objections, fast-track water and sewerage infrastructure and basically stop the blame game. Everybody is pointing the finger but nothing is getting done. We would prioritise housing projects that have been stuck in limbo. If the declaration of a housing emergency dealt with that alone, we would start making moves to provide homes for people. Our biggest trouble in this country is that we have objectors who object to planning permission applications for major developments and one-off developments. They object to sewage treatment plants. In the name of God, the Government has no understanding of how to deal with these people. It has left them to take control of the country. A small handful of individuals have held this country to ransom. The Government should be looking at these serial objectors. Some people have a legitimate cause to object but most are serial objectors. They need to be severely fined. The Government needs to stand up to them because they are bullies but it has accepted that and laid down before them. They have destroyed our country. Developments have been blocked. The sewerage infrastructure that is needed in local towns and villages has been blocked because people who do not live in the area have decided to object to it. The Government has not stood up to them. That is true of one-off planning applications in rural communities. We need to make changes. At the time of the formation of the Government, there was talk that log cabins would be allowed. Why are we not moving somewhere in that regard?
Sentiment score: -0.11
That is another thing that is coming down the road. People are calling me now. I want to see the legislation.
Sentiment score: 0.03
Is it there today?
Sentiment score: 0.00
This is the problem. Everything is about kicking the can down the road.
Sentiment score: -0.20
I would appreciate it if something were announced today and dealt with in a week or two rather than dragging on down the road. That legislation could have been put in place. We were advising it should be introduced years ago but nobody would listen to us. We must consider the building of houses in cities. We are building out but what about building up? When I am in Dublin and places such as that, I meet people who say they are well able to do that but are being blocked from going forward. The turnover of council houses is an issue in Cork and elsewhere in this country. There is a problem with the speed of turnover of houses. We meet many people who would love a home, would do it up and look after it themselves. Some people leave the houses in meticulous condition but at the same time, there is a hold-up in bringing it back into the system again. I have many clinics over weekends and through those, I find creeping into society again is that the powers that be, the planners, are blocking people from getting farm sheds. I know we are talking about building houses but farm sheds are important for young people who are trying to find a way to belong on their farms. They are being asked what they need a shed for. Nobody wants to build a farm shed unless they need it. I cannot understand how a planner can ask such people to prove they need a shed by asking how many cattle they have. Nobody is going to put themselves to an expense of €30,000, €40,000 or €100,000 only that there is a need for it on their farm. Surely, they should not be asked those kinds of silly questions. The whole point is that infrastructure is at a standstill in most parts of this country. In my constituency of Cork South-West, you cannot build a house in Dunmanway. I am bored of saying that in this Chamber. Imagine that in a town as big as Dunmanway. It has a great opportunity because of its close proximity to Cork city and towns such as Clonakilty. Dunmanway feeds into Clonakilty, Bandon, Bantry and Skibbereen. You cannot build one house in the town and there is no possibility of building there for the next five or six years. The same is true in Shannonvale in Clonakilty, where raw sewage is pouring into the sea and nobody cares. The same is true in Rosscarbery. Nobody gives a damn. Ballydehob and Goleen have been waiting for a sewerage system for 25 years. In God's earthly name, what has gone wrong with this country? It is at a complete standstill. The Government needs to stand up and call a housing emergency. It should listen to Independent Ireland for once. That is what we are asking. It will be embarrassing to take the hit for a couple of weeks and people will roar and shout, but we will get things done if that happens.
Sentiment score: 0.02