Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)

The Minister of State may have solved the problem in his constituency but the country is larger than that. In the counties adjoining Dublin, one will find scores of Dublin people who are renting houses because they cannot afford to buy. They are, in effect, paying a mortgage each month. They will remember that on election day. The Minister of State can hold the election on a Monday but they will still remember.

Unlike everybody else, I believe there will be a massive turnout at the next general election. It will be the highest we have seen since the early or late 1970s. The turnout in the early 1970s was probably the highest in living memory. The Government does not want a massive turnout.

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