Phil Hogan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government will be given new responsibility in the area of housing and the money will come with it. It is difficult enough to streamline the work to be done in this area between the Departments of Social Protection and the Environment, Community and Local Government and it will require primary legislation. These are technical drafting amendments which do not tee up anything that will happen in the housing assistance legislation. They will be dealt with separately in that legislation. The supports available under the housing Acts and the Department of Social Protection are disparate and the HAP scheme is trying to bring all issues together. Community welfare officers have significant information at their disposal and are not as aligned to the local government system as they should be. This must be captured in the legislation. The amendment does not deal with any of the issues the Deputy has raised because they will be dealt with in the new legislation.