The Government would do well to heed the warnings that were given by retired workers and pensioners outside the gates of Leinster House yesterday. It will press its amendment at its peril. I ask the Government, even at this point, not to move the amendment, which will delay the passing of the Bill. It was most eloquently put by one retired worker who said, "We may no longer be worker bees, but we are still bees with a sting." If the Government is in any doubt about that, it should cast its mind back to the grey arm…

My question is on another matter, but I have to say that the entire country is flying blind and the Taoiseach should restore those briefings as a matter of urgency if he wants to take people with him in what is a difficult situation. If the recent opinion poll taken in respect of the by-election in Dublin Bay South is anything to judge by, there is a very real possibility, maybe even a likelihood, that the Government parties are going to lose a seat. There are many reasons that this might happen. From my experience…

Why will the Minister and the Government not commit to actually making affordable housing genuinely affordable on public land and on developments where we are getting affordable housing from private developers?

Consider areas of Dublin such as the Glass Bottle site at Poolbeg where developers like Johnny Ronan and so on are involved. These developers are not building anything for less than €500,000 and often more. That is not affordable. The concern is that the Government will not strictly define "affordable" to ensure that it is actually affordable based on people's income. To pay for a house that costs €400,000, €450,000 or €500,000 a person would need an income in excess of €90,000 or €100,000. That is not affordable. …

-----but base it on people's income, so that ordinary working people-----

An amendment we put to the Sinn Féin motion last night said that it should be no more than 25% of a person's income-----

-----and the Government did not oppose it. Will they hardwire that into the legislation to give a clear, legal commitment for genuine affordability?

Johnny Ronan-----

I understand that the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Coveney, met with representatives of the Saudi Arabian regime recently. Can the Taoiseach tell us if the Cabinet subcommittee on Europe has discussed the issue of the absolutely terrible war in Yemen, which has lasted for almost seven years? Approximately 16 million people, half the population, are suffering from hunger, 3 million have been displaced and an estimated 220,000 have lost their lives, either directly or indirectly as a result of the war. The Sa…

We are allocated a certain amount of time.

As there was not enough time for the Taoiseach to answer my previous question, perhaps he will do so now because Britain is one of several European countries that regularly sells large amounts of arms to Saudi Arabia, which that country then uses to devastating and murderous effect in Yemen. We have a responsibility to say to all of our neighbours in Europe, whether inside or outside the EU, that their continued turning of a blind eye or, even worse, their active military facilitation, with arms and other supports,…

I move amendment No. 1: In page 7, lines 5 to 19, to delete line 5 down to and including "price" in line 19 and substitute the following: "An Act to regulate relevant public and relevant private land in order to increase the amount of land available for the provision of public and genuinely affordable housing; for that housing to address deficiencies in the stock of public and affordable housing; for the land to be developed in consultation with communities; for public services and amenities to be developed at the …

I will let the Minister make the case for that one. I will speak to the amendments tabled by People Before Profit. They relate to the Title of the Bill and, essentially, the setting out of its purposes and the purpose of the Land Development Agency, LDA. In some ways, the amendments in this group are a summary of many of the problems we have with the Government's plan for the LDA and what it should do. I will try to summarise them briefly. The LDA should be an agency that assembles land and, in particular, land tha…

As the mover of most of the amendments in this group, I will respond to the Minister. Many of the contributions probably were not directly to do with the amendments but that shows the frustration Members feel about housing in every area. Members are just looking for every opportunity to raise this issue because it is such a pressing crisis. I agree with the Minister that there is a fundamental difference between many in the Opposition and the Government. I have only a short time available to speak so I will focus o…

I will take it.

I get in again.

I get the last word.

Does the Minister not want to respond?

I want the Minister to respond and then I get the last word because I tabled all the amendments.

The Minister is caught by his own guillotine.