Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I agree with much of what the witnesses say, particularly about landlords not taking up the housing assistance, HAP, scheme, the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and every other scheme. They have no interest. They will make up any excuse in the book and avoid it as much as possible. These are some of the best submissions we have got from any housing organisations because they deal with real recommendations and there is nothing in them that cannot be implemented. It goes back to the will to do it and that is a job for this committee.

The issue of women at risk of domestic violence is very important. In Kilkenny there are three homeless facilities, one of which is a hotel. They are always full and have waiting lists. It is not as bad as in Dublin and other big cities but many women present after domestic violence. They will not take up places that are offered in Clonmel or Waterford because they would have to go out of the school region or the family setting. They fall into nowhere land. It takes a lot to leave a situation where there is domestic violence. This is the first time these problems have been raised at this committee, like that of people under 26. Many are encouraged to stay at home but it is not always as simple as that because some are couples who might have a child. It is very complex but the solutions are quite straightforward.

I would be interested in hearing more detail about the compulsory purchase order, CPO, on vacant properties in Cork. It came up a few times and when the Minister was here, he said there is an issue around private property rights but we need to consider it because there are so many vacant units. If we could use CPOs to get them through some fast-track mechanism and turn them around, it would be a short and long-term solution because they would come up much faster than houses we start to build now. If the witnesses do not have the information to hand, maybe they could send it on to show how that would work. Does it include vacant units as well as derelict sites? Everybody here would know of places in their home towns that nobody seems to have lived in. They have been vacant for years.