John Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the opportunity to say a few words on the Bill. All Members are out on the canvas trail at present in their respective constituencies and one major issue on the doorsteps is housing or the lack thereof. At many doors to which one goes, people are living in overcrowded conditions. They are living in mobile homes at the back of houses and really, matters have regressed to the dark days of the 1960s and 1970s with regard to the inadequate housing available to families throughout the country. There are approximately 90,000 people on the social housing waiting list, including up to 3,000 in County Wexford, which constitutes an enormous number of people who are awaiting and seeking housing. RAS is working reasonably well although I note a recent report from Wexford County Council indicated that the total number of transfers to RAS thus far this year has been 31, while the target is 140. It is almost the middle of May and yet the council has only achieved 22% of its target. One reason is the council is finding it very difficult to get a supply of houses from home owners who go on RAS. In addition, the condition of some houses I have visited on the campaign trail that are under =RAS certainly leave much to be desired. They are sub-standard and of poor quality. The Minister of State might comment on what facilities local authorities have to inspect houses in RAS because when I make representations to the housing officer, he or she usually tells me the onus is on the house owner to carry out the repairs. Some of them certainly are not terribly helpful and are treating people on RAS with utter contempt.

The legislation before Members is being rushed through in an effort to prevent any meaningful debate on its substance. As there will be no Dáil sittings next week, I presume the Bill will conclude this week. For those who are homeless, on social housing lists or renting on low and middle incomes, the economic recovery's most tangible impact is to make the prospect of home ownership and stable accommodation a more distant possibility than ever. As I stated, the Bill does not address the chronic lack of supply in housing units or Government inaction on the matter. Instead, it seeks to address matters that would be relevant, were there an adequate supply of social housing and a rental market that was not in crisis. Unfortunately, this is not the position facing the people at present. The Bill provides for a scheme of tenant purchase of existing local authority houses broadly along the same lines as the incremental purchase schemes for new local authority housing. In her response, the Minister of State might explain this provision in greater detail. Did she give consideration to selling off the local authority stock at a reduced rate? There was such a sell-off, I believe it may have been in 1989, in which council houses were sold off at half price. A huge number of people availed of that scheme and, as a result, the councils avoided the repair costs for those houses in the intervening years. The Minister of State might give serious consideration again to such a "sale of the century" or whatever one wishes to call it, in which people who were in a position to buy the houses could buy them at a reduced rate. The local authority would no longer be responsible for the repairs or the upkeep of those houses.

The new housing assistance payment, HAP, will be made by housing authorities in respect of rent payable by households that are qualified for social housing support for rented accommodation that has been sourced by the households concerned. I always thought the scheme being operated by the community welfare officers was very good. They were on the ground and were very much aware of people's needs. In general, they ran a very good scheme. I am unsure whether handing this over to the local authorities will improve matters. I sometimes wonder whether it will make matters worse. It depends on who is the local authority's housing officer at the time because some of those with whom I have dealt in the past at local authority level certainly would not be too helpful to people who now wish to avail of this scheme. I again ask the Minister of State to spell out how the scheme will work in reality.

At present, many people avail of rent supplement but because of the cap placed on it, they are unable to avail of the full amount and as a result, are obliged to put some of their social welfare payments towards the rent, some of which is going under the counter and some over the counter, to be able to acquire housing. I am unsure whether this is the best system in which the State should be involved because the rent supplement scheme should take into account the value of houses in a particular area.

Members have heard a lot of talk about the rental value of houses in Dublin going through the roof.

The rental value of houses in rural Ireland has also increased because of the significant lack of housing. Landlords have been implementing regular rent increases. The money available through the supplementary rent scheme does not meet the full rent. As a result, many tenants are accepting inadequate substandard facilities which do not meet the needs of families.

Some people avail of the deduction from social welfare payments and this will become a mandatory deduction. Up to now the tenant could decide whether he or she wished to participate in that scheme. It is unfair that this will become mandatory. Many people availed of the scheme in the past. Rent arrears is one thing but a mandatory deduction may not take into account the person's ability to pay and other commitments. I always encourage people to pay their rent before everything else in order to ensure a roof over their head. In my view the mandatory deduction scheme is a form of bully-boy tactic.

I refer to the increasing levels of homelessness, both in cities and in rural towns. A problem that in the past was confined to cities such as Dublin is now an issue in rural towns where many young people are homeless. For example, they are living under the bridges or on park benches in my own town of Enniscorthy and in other towns in Wexford. The situation is escalating and it needs to be tackled. Different organisations in the city are very involved with homelessness. I refer to the work of Fr. Peter McVerry and others. However, the situation is different in rural Ireland because there are not many organisations involved. It is an issue that needs to be tackled and it is a concern that so many young people are homeless because of alcohol abuse. The situation in rural Ireland needs to be taken into account as well.

I have raised with the Minister of State the issue of the social housing list and NAMA. There have been consistent delays in the transfer of NAMA properties. To date, only 500 houses have been transferred to local authorities. I do not understand the reason for the delay. In my home town of Enniscorthy, the local authority purchased a number of houses from a builder who ended up in NAMA. The council could not deal with the bureaucracy associated with NAMA and it withdrew from purchasing houses from NAMA and instead purchased houses on the open market. I ask the Minister of State to explain to the House why NAMA continues to transfer such a small number of houses. Does the problem lie with the local authority or is there fault on both sides? The system has not been working satisfactorily, which is regrettable. NAMA has a significant number of properties in Wexford on its books. These are lying idle and are not being made available to those 3,000 on the local authority housing waiting list.

It is questionable whether this Bill is going in the right direction. It is rushed legislation and such legislation comes back to bite politicians and the Government in particular. I ask the Minister of State to spell out what she means by the new HAP scheme and how it will be implemented by local authorities. Will the housing sections of local authorities need a special unit to deal with the scheme? Will it be all over the place like the rental accommodation scheme because different people are dealing with it on different days of the week? The housing section of the local authority should have a specific section with expertise and training to deal with the scheme. The community welfare officers were up to speed on this scheme because they had many years of experience which has now been lost and the local authority officials will have to begin again. I suggest a training system for the staff who will be dealing with the HAP scheme. I ask her in her reply to explain the continuing delays in the NAMA reallocation of houses on its books.

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