Caít Keane (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I will have to leave at 1 p.m. but we have had a very important discussion about housing in general. A house is a person's castle but if one does not have a house, one has nothing. The Government has recognised that and by inviting the groups' submissions today, the committee has done the same. We must digest them further. Housing is the most important item on the agenda, although jobs are also important. If children are not in a house and they do not have a good start in life in a home, they are on a slippery slope to nowhere. We must recognise that.

A €68 million fund was announced last month, but has that helped in any way? Should it be utilised differently? Everybody must prioritise in our current position. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked about HAP. I was a member of South Dublin County Council for 20 years so has HAP improved the process? What other improvements could be brought about? Mr. McManus mentioned the shift from bricks and mortar to revenue-based schemes, so can he elaborate on this to see how feasible it would be? Landlords withdrawing from schemes is a major problem and rent rates are increasing. The Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, has spoken of how rent is linked to GDP in other countries, so the matter is being considered, although I do not know what will come from it. It is an important concept. If a scheme is capped, there may be an exodus and developers may decide not to build any more houses if there is no incentive or it cannot be rented at market value. How could we balance the scales in favour of people who need a home? The process has been linked to GDP in other countries but how can that be balanced from a bottom-up approach? The witnesses have experience and could give this advice.

Capital acquisition means turnaround of houses can occur in three to four months, which compares favourably with the building method. People in one bedroom apartments which are not suitable want to move up the ladder. This applies particularly to local authorities and shared ownership schemes, and for example, people may have bought a one bedroom apartment but they could have two children. How could they be moved to a two bedroom property? Could there be a negotiation or strategy involving local authorities and the parties involved?

The person who has taken the loan with the authority is bearing the brunt. Naturally, one cannot bankrupt a local authority by making it take some of the pain as well. That is a question that is on my mind because everyone is taking some of the pain but I accept it might not be feasible.

The lack of involvement of members of non-governmental organisations dealing with the homeless community is one of the issues we will raise with the Minister. I am sure it is not written in stone that there could not be one other member. Perhaps there are reasons for that. Such an input to the high level group would be important.

Early intervention is the best way. I attended a presentation on early intervention in child care this morning. Such intervention is important to prevent anti-social behaviour and to ensure a person does not become homeless. Pat Doyle spoke about the issue. Could the witnesses specify one thing that local authorities could do to facilitate early intervention and so stop the rot before it happens in terms of homelessness? I refer to financial and social reasons.