Fiach MacConghail (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House. I support the amendment of my colleague, Senator Zappone. I seek clarification as this is one of those issues in debate where one must separate the Minister of State's bona fides as a politician and her bona fides as a legislator. She might not be in this position, as she might be elevated or certainly have her workload increased, over the next 48 hours. Consequently, I must divorce the Minister of State's bona fides as a politician from the legislation before Members. On Second Stage, I sought clarification regarding section 37 and the Minister of State went some way, albeit not far enough in my opinion, towards trying to appease Members' concerns. She suggested that under the 2009 Act, she can direct a housing authority to amend an allocation scheme in the manner specified. In my Second Stage speech, I asked the Minister of State to examine why this could not be included in the current Bill. During this Committee Stage debate, the Minister of State should try to clarify for Members her process in this regard. There is genuine concern, although some of it is mischievously exacerbated in the media.

There is, however, a concern about which we want to speak plainly to the Minister. At present, section 37 clearly - I am about to be paradoxical - leaves an ambiguous sense in stating:

Subject to regulations made for the purposes of subsection (4)(f) of section 20 of the Act of 2009, the provision of housing assistance under this Part shall be deemed to be an appropriate form of social housing support for a household that is determined by a housing authority under the said section 20 to be qualified for such support.

One could argue this provision is not as well written as it could be and that it needs clarification. That the Minister would make a direction subsequent to the enactment of this Bill suggests there is a bureaucratically or technocratically cumbersome process when it should be stated clearly that there will not be unequal treatment of future tenants through the transfer system. I ask the Minister of State to tease out those anxieties and to be as clear and unbureacratic as possible in her response.