Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I will put my four questions straight to the witnesses for their opinions. As other speakers have alluded to, it was expected that modular or rapid build homes would come on stream much more quickly than they have and would be a viable option for people in homeless situations. As Deputy Ellis said, there is potential for more long-term solutions with the delivery of these units. They have not been completed at the pace we were led to expect. What are the problems? Deputy Barry referred to a report that was published earlier this week. It was proposed yesterday to introduce new legislation or emergency legislation to assist in ensuring these units are provided more quickly. What do the witnesses recommend should be done to improve the delivery and the speed at which they are delivered? If procurement is the solution, will the witnesses make specific recommendations we can analyse so that we can make suggestions to the Department and the Minister?

Do the witnesses agree that it is unfortunate that there is no national, Government-sponsored affordable housing scheme at present? It has been mentioned that the Ó Cualann Cohousing Alliance has achieved significant success in Dublin in recent times. Is that the template for the roll-out of affordable housing nationally? If that can be confirmed, a recommendation to that effect should be made so that we can insist on it being implemented.

In Rebuilding Ireland, the Government has proposed to expand on the NAMA asset residential property service by putting in place a vehicle to provide finance for units that can be leased back by local authorities over a longer period. We have been told the Government is still awaiting an EU decision on this proposal. What are the witnesses' thoughts on that? Can they confirm that the local authorities are prepared to have a role as part of such a scheme? From our perspective, we can make advances in this regard by putting pressure on those who have the power to take action in this area.

I would like to pick up on what Deputy Barry said about recent fires. Obviously, we are conscious of this issue following the terrible disaster in London. I am familiar with the position in my constituency and in Offaly County Council. I am sure it is the same throughout the country. Can the officials confirm that local authorities do not have the staff to carry out inspections on their own HAP properties? Can they confirm that up to 50% of HAP properties have yet to be inspected? If that is the case, this issue should be an urgent priority within the efforts, led by the Minister, to ascertain and audit the entire system of inspection, fire safety and control, policing and implementation of recommendations. Regardless of whether the officials are prepared to say so, I would say there is no doubt that many properties across the country that are subsidised by HAP have not been inspected by local authorities. It needs to be identified immediately whether this can be attributed to a shortage of staff of resources. If that transpires to be the case, funding needs to be made available so that it can be rectified. It cannot be allowed to be the case, especially in light of recent disasters.