James Bannon (Longford-Westmeath, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I, too, welcome the witnesses to today's meeting. I welcome also that the regulatory body will provide support and assurances to the sector and its many partners. Mr. Ó Lionáin might elaborate on the voluntary codes which will set out the basic principles in relation to financial management and good governance etc.. He might also outline what problems and disadvantages are associated with social housing. There are problems in this regard. The Grant Thornton review found that this sector is extremely fragmented and that there are more than 700 approved bodies providing some 23,000 dwelling units to persons in need; 128 of which provided 13,894 units, implying that the remaining bodies, of which there are 600, provided fewer than 10,000 dwelling units in total.

Given the complex nature of providing, managing and maintaining dwelling units for social housing, how can this fragmented sector operate effectively and efficiently? I would welcome a response to that question. During the Grant Thornton review a number of county managers were scathing in their attacks on the sector, with one county manager saying the housing association sector is being dominated by a handful of large providers who own approximately half of the stock.

He suggested these were large and bureaucratic and referred to the fact that one bureaucratic organisation was as complicated as any local authority. I call on the witnesses to elaborate on that. I would welcome any comments.

Having said that, when my former constituency colleague, Deputy Penrose was involved in housing he initiated the entire process of developing and enabling the regulatory framework. This was something that he had hoped to work on and I am pleased that his successor has followed through with it. It is important that it is up-and-running as soon as possible and in a satisfactory manner.