I am worried about the CPO aspect of the legislation. It is proposed that "other land" could be acquired by CPO. There is a big problem in Dublin and there are also problems in Kerry but they are different problems that can be sorted out differently. The Minister is talking about populations over 30,000 whereas I am talking about villages with populations of 1,000 or 2,500. They also need to be assisted. In many instances, Kerry County Council does not have land on which to build in these sorts of places. I am aski…

I am asking the Minister to fund the local authorities so they can purchase sites around local villages and towns. Our land is exhausted at the moment. We have very little land left in most of the rural towns and villages, including Currow, Scartaglen, Rathmore, Gneeveguilla and all of those places. There is no land. I am asking the Minister to fund the local authorities so they can purchase lands on which they can build houses themselves. We must sort out the sewerage problems that are stopping progress and develo…

The Government is making them.

We should get rid of the Government, too.

On a point of order, please.

Can I ask the Minister-----

What has his Government got against publicans in rural Ireland?

What have you got against them? Come out and tell us. What has Dr. Holohan got against them? Come out and tell us, please. They have been blackguarded right, left and centre.

A Cheann Comhairle-----

I call on the Government to ensure there is a debate to discuss why it is keeping the pubs in rural Ireland and rural Kerry closed indefinitely.

Why is it doing that? What is it hiding? What has it against them?

Come out and tell us. We want an open and honest debate about this.

What the Government is doing is out of order; a Cheann Comhairle, totally out of order.

There is no rhyme or reason. I want to know the reason.

I am glad to get the opportunity to speak to this very important Bill, which provides for an extension of two or more years for developments that may not have been completed and where coronavirus caused buildings to be held up. Certainly, we must ensure that there is an extension of at least two years. We have many problems in County Kerry with regard to planning and building houses. While Dublin has its problems, we have our own different problems in Kerry. We have designations such as urban-generated pressure, wh…

I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about affordable housing because it is a very serious problem. There are many young couples watching us this evening who are wondering if they will ever be able to put a roof over their heads. It is a natural desire for any couple or young person to put a roof over their heads and to own their home but it is becoming increasingly difficult because of the cost of materials and the difficulties with securing planning permission in rural areas, especially in rural parts of Kerr…

In places in rural Ireland such as Kilgarvan, Gortderrig, and Headfort, when a bridge on a local road goes down, why does it take 12 months or more to reopen these roads? It is a massive inconvenience to go on a five- or seven-mile detour for farmers, contractors and school buses. Even the ambulance came up on the wrong side for one very sick man and was delayed by over an hour finding the way back to where it should have been. It is all because of statutory processes that the Department is requesting, including en…

Deputy Aindrias Moynihan was speaking earlier. The road from Top of Coom to Ballingarry was closed for two years because of these silly requests.

People's lives are being utterly changed because of this delay.

Of course I have. Johnny Healy-Rae and Maura Healy-Rae have the phone broken trying to get these bridges open.