While I would, of course, agree that the living conditions of the gentleman from the Village featured in Leslie-Ann Henry's excellent article are completely unacceptable, I would point out that on no occasion did the gentleman, or anyone on his behalf, contact my office for assistance.

As someone who has long admired the insightful and human approach Lindy McDowell applies to her work, I was interested to read she had asked the readership of the Belfast Telegraph: 'What is the MP for the area, Alasdair McDonnell, doing about this?'

I'm confident your readers would have thought it more sensible if she actually contacted me rather than throw up her hands in seeming exasperation.

If Ms McDowell had taken this simple step, she might have been interested in the Parliamentary Question (tabled before her article was printed) in which I asked the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland (a) what is the intended completion date for the Department of Social Development's appraisal of the proposal for redevelopment of the greater Village Area and, (b) what is the intended date for the Department for Social Development to authorise the Housing Executive to proceed with the redevelopment?

If Ms McDowell had read the considerable debate secured by myself in Westminster on February 27 on the wider issue of housing across the north, she would have understood that good quality social and affordable housing is an issue that is of great importance to me. Finally, in response to Ms McDowell's charge that it should not be left to community groups to highlight this problem, I believe that rather than the MP marching off on some ego-fuelled crusade and doing his or her own thing, working within these established structures was the better approach.

Dr Alasdair McDonnell MP, Belfast