Jonathan O'Brien (Cork North Central, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

That figure is increasing all the time.

I only have five minutes available to me but in all honesty I could speak for five hours in respect of this issue. In any event, I wish to use my time to focus on three areas, the first of which relates to the changes to rent allowance. Those changes are pushing more and more people into poverty and onto the streets. That is a fact. Deputies will attest to the number of people visiting their constituency offices and stating the changes to rent allowance have led to their being forced to pay more to their landlords. Said landlords refuse to maintain the properties in which those people live. To be honest, some of the properties in question are slums. I have visited a number of them and discovered they do not have hot running water or heating, that the windows are faulty and that they are damp and cold. People are paying a portion of their social welfare payments to top up their rent allowance in order that they can live in these properties. The only other choice available to them is to register as homeless. Some are beginning to do so because they can no longer afford to pay. The position in this regard must change. This matter is not about money, it relates to a policy decision the Government took in respect of rent allowance caps.

The second matter to which I wish to refer revolves around the quality of housing. We have already heard a great deal with regard to the provision of social housing to people who are on social housing lists. What about those who live in social housing? Local authorities employ building inspectors charged with inspecting dwellings in the private rented sector. I refer here to the building inspectors from the rental accommodation scheme sections of local authorities who are responsible for ensuring properties meet the relevant criteria before their owners can become landlords under the rent allowance scheme. I have visited local authority properties in the city in which I live which would not pass any safety standards. I do not say it lightly but local authorities are among the worst rogue landlords in the State. The quality of housing in some local authority areas is shocking. Last year Cork City Council introduced a €2 rent increase, the purpose of which was to pay for boiler maintenance. There are people in the city who are paying an extra €2 in rent for the servicing of boilers which are not to be found in the dwellings in which they live. Those people have neither central heating nor hot water.

I am referring here to local authority housing, some of which is in appalling condition. I accept that much of this comes down to finances. Local authorities are being starved of funding. We have heard a great deal about how the money collected by means of local property tax is going to go back to local authorities and be spent on improving services. That is not happening at present. The Minister of State visited Cork recently and she is aware of the regeneration project that is in train on the north side of the city. As part of this project, housing that was substandard was knocked down and is due to be replaced by top quality dwellings. To date, not one brick has been laid. All the old houses were demolished and there are now green areas where they once stood. None of those houses has been replaced. There are houses in the city which are boarded up and which have been lying idle for five years or more. That is shocking. I have been visited at my constituency office by people who want to know why they cannot be allowed to move into these houses. They have informed me they will redecorate them bit by bit. They want to move into these dwellings to get a roof over their heads. This is because they are sleeping on couches in other people's houses. Others have informed me they and their two children are sleeping in a box room into which it is not even possible to fit a wardrobe. As a result, these people are living out of suitcases. They just want homes at a time when there are houses all over the city that are boarded up.

The Minister of State just announced that funding will be made available to bring 500 vacant houses back into use. There are 500 vacant houses in Cork city alone. I accept that a certain percentage of dwellings must be kept idle in the context of facilitating turnaround and for emergency purposes. However, there are houses available. It will cost us more in the long term. When houses become idle, the council goes in and rips out fitted kitchens, tears up tiled floors and removes wood panelling and top quality fixtures and fittings. All of these are thrown into skips. We are informed that this is done because houses must meet a certain standard before they can be reallocated. Council workers then paint all the walls yellow in order that the houses in question can finally be reallocated. When I was a councillor I raised this matter and I was informed that the reason houses could not be allocated in their current condition related to the insurance criteria and safety standards which need to be met.

Deputy Cowen referred to the rent allowance scheme. This is a disaster waiting to happen and it is going to come crashing down around the ears of those in local authorities. We must face up to that fact and immediately begin to implement policies to address the social housing needs of people in this State.

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