Yes.

Let the Minister respond.

Stop it.

Yes.

I welcome the students in the Gallery, who are politics students from the High School in Rathgar in my constituency. They are very welcome. I want to return to the issue of housing, the civil rights issue of our generation and most particularly of the generation of the students in the Gallery who are with us today. One key way to increase the number of homes available, that are so badly needed across our communities, is to ensure that we have a really positive proactive programme to turn vacant housing into homes. …

How many Department of Defence homes, that could be used as homes for our Defence Forces personnel and others, are lying empty?

We are up to the challenge.

I thank the Tánaiste.

Everyone should have a home and far too many people in Ireland today do not. Housing must be a key priority for the Government in next week's budget because housing is the civil rights issue of this generation.

Indeed, it is affecting every generation and community. It is why we are seeing students marching today with the Union of Students in Ireland, USI, and calling for an increase in student accommodation. It is why we are all hearing from employers who cannot recruit staff, schools that have teacher shortages and hospitals that cannot retain healthcare workers. This is because of the housing crisis across the country. Yet in this housing crisis, the Government has allowed a culture to embed in our urban centres whereb…

I represent the Labour Party, the party of work and jobs, so there is no need to lecture our party on employment and full employment or even on being beyond full employment. Clearly, however, what is holding back the creation of jobs here now is the lack of availability of housing. It is holding back delivery of our public services, like education and healthcare, and is holding back our students who are trying to find somewhere close to their places of study where they can live in security. They cannot find it, and…

-----who simply cannot afford a place they can call home now.

It was the Taoiseach's party's partner in government that wrecked the economy and brought about huge unemployment in the country.

Earlier, our justice spokesperson, Deputy Ó Ríordáin, raised with the Taoiseach the crisis in the criminal justice system today, noting that the business of the criminal courts has been halted due to the withdrawal of services by criminal barristers and solicitors because of the lack of pay restoration moves. We have also seen a crisis in An Garda Síochána, with the work-to-rule ongoing today and on future Tuesdays including, it seems, Hallowe'en. The response the Taoiseach gave was effectively that of a bystander …

Last Thursday, I raised with the Tánaiste the scourge of vacancy and dereliction throughout the country. He indicated this was really a matter for local authorities to tackle but it really is a matter for central government to take a lead. This is such a blight on our communities throughout the country. It seems that State agencies and public bodies are directly involved. Yesterday, an investigation by Ferghal Blaney of the Irish Mirror revealed the HSE owns more than 250 empty buildings throughout the country. The…

I have just arrived here from Bass Place in Dublin 2, a stone's throw from here, in my constituency. There is a terrace there of six houses that are on the Dublin City Council derelict sites register. We were there to highlight the need for the Government to take more effective action to tackle the scourge of vacancy and dereliction across the country. We are conscious that the numbers of sites represented on the derelict and vacant sites registers of local authorities underestimate the scale of the problem. We are…

Where is central government?

We are.

Where is the central government response?

I thank Deputy Bríd Smith and her colleagues for tabling this motion, which I am glad to support on behalf of the Labour Party. I echo the words of Deputy Ó Broin in pointing out to the Government that, unfortunately, this is another example of a cynical procedural manoeuvre that we are seeing used all too often to delay and effectively neuter Opposition Bills by pushing them off, putting them into lengthy processes and delaying their Second Readings for 12 months and so on. As such, this motion is a sensible move …