Ms Clare Naughton:

Deputy Harty, or perhaps it was Deputy Durkan, asked about non-Irish nationals or Irish nationals. There is no restriction in housing legislation as to who can apply or what nationalities can apply for social housing. That restriction comes in under our EU obligations. Certainly, the difficulty arises in particular for people who cannot, those who may be HRC compliant and may be able to prove a connection with the country, but the way in which the questions are posed by the local authority means they cannot meet those questions. For example, the big question that comes up a lot is, "Can you show 52 weeks of work?". That does not apply to a child who has just come of age and is not in a position to show 52 weeks of work but who may have a good connection with the country. That would be an example.

With regard to the medical priority situation, the difficulty is that it varies from local authority to local authority. There is certainly in legislation a requirement - I am not sure if it is in the primary Act or the statutory instrument - for a consultant's report. From a positive point of view, I know that Dublin City Council does not necessarily require as high a level as a consultant's report. Apologies, I think the legislation looks for a report from a medical practitioner within the HSE. So, it varies from local authority to local authority. The legislation says something different to what the local authorities say. Even from that point of view, I cannot advise somebody without checking what they actually need to bring in or produce for the local authority. It is very unclear at the outset as to what they actually need. They have to either check their local authority to find out from it or check the legislation because both set down different requirements. Even with that, some local authorities will not be satisfied with just a GP report, but will want a report from a consultant, as Deputy Catherine Byrne mentioned. The difficulty can be, for example, that if one is waiting to see a urologist on a public appointment, one can be waiting a very long time. In order to prove one's medical condition, even a request for medical priority can take a long time and even with that there are difficulties at the next stage.