Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Anti-Austerity Alliance) | Oireachtas source

If there is to be an increase in the amount of public housing that is to be built, which I hope there will be, the question is who is best placed to do it. I completely understand why the question of housing agencies working in niche areas - to use that expression - such as those relating to elderly people and disabled people cropped up. These were people who understood the needs of the particular sector. However, what is happening lately is that housing agencies are being given the lion's share of public housing building. I have questions about this and I think that is what was being referred to. It seems to me that it is obviously related to the financial issue because of this off-balance sheet aspect - the EU fiscal rules - but I am questioning whether it is ideological as well.

On the problems with housing agencies versus local authorities, as someone who was on a council for a period, one of the things I found dealing with the housing agencies, which were increasingly being given housing estates in the area, is that councillors are not in a position to represent any of the people living in those estates like they are with the council. That is a real disadvantage for those people in those houses because they have no one to bat on their behalf. At least with councils, we can go in and argue about rent, arrears, anti-social behaviour or whatever. There are a few things. I mentioned three of them, one being pyrite, about which a housing agency in my own area, Respond!, has not done anything. If that was the council, I would be best placed to go in and make representations but I have not got anywhere. Another thing is the replacement of windows. There are housing estates in Mulhuddart which are controlled by NABCO and others. They have not done window replacement and the tenants are living in freezing cold houses. At least with the councils there is a process and a certain democracy as well.

I have a problem with the fact that it seems councils are being obliged to hand over their land to housing associations. That is what is happening. Again, to mention my constituency of Dublin West, we have a massive housing crisis and a massive homelessness crisis but, according to the Laying the Foundations document, only 22 houses will be built and that will be done by the housing agency Clúid. They will be just for generalised population.

Why is a housing agency being given all these estates when no specialised group is going to be in them? Let us be clear: housing associations are not batting on behalf of a sector that needs proper care, for example, the way ALONE used to argue for the elderly.