Mr. Ned Brennan:

There are 15 points in our pre-budget submission but I will focus in on four points which we consider are our four main areas. One is that we believe the provision of funding for a sustainable programme of housing and social housing should be prioritised, including the development of a national housing plan. That is one of the main messages I want to get across today - the development of a national housing plan. The second point is that approved housing bodies should be exempt from the proposed property tax. The third point is that the new-founded dependency on the not-for-profit approved housing bodies needs to be more carefully studied and there need to be discussions between key stakeholders in an open and transparent manner in order that everyone has an input in the direction in which housing should develop in the future. The fourth point is more of an organisation specific request. It is in regard to support for a pilot programme for better being in terms of improving mental health among low income families living on social housing estates. I will elucidate those four points briefly.

Respond believes that the provision of funding for a sustainable programme of social housing should be prioritised, including the development of a national housing plan. Currently, there are no national housing plans that provide a strategic vision for the housing sector in Ireland from the medium to the long term. There are a number of plans - county development plans, local area plans and spatial strategies - but no co-ordinated or joined-up thinking. Respond Housing Association welcomes the housing policy statement released in June last year, but while the statement outlines the damage caused by the housing sector to the overall economy, it does not provide sufficient details on how the current crisis in private and social housing in Ireland can be resolved.

Respond has continually called on Government to research, publish and implement a national housing plan. We believe that the new national housing plan should be comprehensive, consistent and bring together the many different elements required in a housing policy. The lack of a national housing plan-----