On behalf of the Labour Party, I wish Donal Hickey and his family every happiness in his retirement.

Given his previous portfolio, how concerned is the Tánaiste about the fact that today there are almost 4,000 children homeless out of the 10,000 people who are homeless? In the Dublin area and I think parts of Cork, where a lot of people are renting, landlords are increasingly selling their houses because they have come out of negative equity and the bank may well be forcing them to sell. The consequence is that very often there is no place for the family and the children to go to, except into homelessness. I am really shocked by Fine Gael's failure on this issue, that notwithstanding the fact that in my constituency there are many homes being built-----

How many houses did the Labour Party build when it was in government?

-----they cost between €600,000 and €700,000. Is there any sense of action on the part of Fine Gael to address the issue of homeless children?

We had a long debate on this issue earlier. It is an issue. People whose properties have increased in value may no longer be in negative equity. Many landlords who may only have one rental property are looking to sell back into the market. As a result, the tenants are struggling to find alternative and affordable accommodation. We are considering the issue. The Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, will bring legislation to provide increased protection for tenants to the Cabinet next week to try to respond to the issue.

We may have to bring back the former Minister, Deputy Kelly.

We brought 5,000 boarded-up houses back into use.