I support Senator Mark Daly's request to amend the Order of Business to take No. 11 on the undocumented Irish today.

I primarily express my concern at the decision by the Central Bank to introduce the 20% deposit rule. While it probably has some merit, its effect can be highlighted if I read an excerpt from an e-mail a lady sent me this morning. It shows that many people are concerned. The policy appears to be a knee-jerk reaction to a situation in Dublin which has approximately 25% of the population. The lady says:

After many months saving - even moving home to our parents - my husband and I wake up this morning to find the 10% deposit we have struggled to save will not be sufficient to buy our home. We have just paid a booking deposit on a house which is not ready until January and may not now be able to draw down the mortgage which has been given to us. Rules laid down by the Central Bank are implemented that very same month. I am pregnant with our first child due in two weeks' time and will now be forced to go back out to the also overheated rental market with no home security, a new baby and very little hope of saving 20% of a deposit at any time in the near future.

I do not know who the lady is, but she is in the Dublin area, which is all I will say. She is typical of thousands of people who find themselves in that situation.

Absolutely.

We should have a debate on this issue which I ask the Minister for Finance to attend. I support what Senator Mary Louise O'Donnell said, although, unfortunately, I missed some of it. We need an urgent debate because while this type of measure might have some effect in Dublin, in parts of the constituency I represent and the west houses are still being sold at less than what it costs to build them. We must be very careful to avoid, in an effort to reverse the problems of the 100% mortgage, which was a ludicrous idea, doing more harm than good. We should stand together and ensure this measure is debated fully before it is implemented in January.

On a point of order, I did not interrupt Senator Denis O'Donovan as I agreed with what he was saying, but when he refers to his constituency, the Chair should remind him that it is the Agricultural Panel.

That is not a point of order.

It is.

It is not.