Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

Many of the questions I was going to ask have been asked. The uptake of rapid-build housing is disappointing. I always felt this was very much targeted at cities like Dublin, Cork and Limerick and that we needed more in rural Ireland.

On the issues of homelessness and emergency homelessness, it is very disappointing that the rent pressure zones were not rolled out further as we are currently in an emergency housing crisis. Carlow County Council has an average payment of €537 every month whereas average rent for a house in Carlow is €900 to €1,000 a month. This means that anybody on HAP or rent allowance has to come up with nearly €500, which is not doable. I know there is a hardship clause that might go up to €700 but, even still, it is unacceptable.

On an issue I have raised with the Minister before, I am glad he has announced the mortgage programme. I am a firm believer that mortgages should be given to people who do not qualify. I have a massive issue with the thresholds, in particular in my area, which has one of the lowest thresholds in the country at €27,500. I had three couples come in to me last week. One couple works part-time and a person in another of the situations works full-time and would be taking in €350 to €400, which is an average income in rural areas. These people were put on family income supplement, FIS, but they did not qualify to go on the housing list. I have families coming in to me where one partner is working and the other stays at home to mind the child or is looking for work. They are getting FIS but they do not qualify to go on Carlow County Council's housing list. Do they give up work, go on the local authority housing list and get HAP and the €600 a month? This is where people are falling through the brackets and we are not seeing improvements. The issue of rent pressure zones needs to be urgently addressed.

The Minister wants to improve policy in regard to victims of domestic violence. There is no policy. I can tell the Minister of cases where people have been victims of domestic violence. They are homeless so they just fill out a normal homeless form but they are not put in any special category. The policy is not working and it needs to be looked at.

Mental health is another problem. I have had several cases of constituents who have mental health issues recently. There is no special funding to help them, and I was told there would be.

The biggest area that needs to be worked on is the national awareness campaign that was rolled out for families and individuals worried about the risk of losing their homes. I acknowledge the Minister is working with the campaign through the Citizens Information Board, but it is a massive issue. A huge number of people do not know about this and are worried. There is supposed to be a freefone number for tenants but people are unaware of it. I ask the Minister to provide more help in this regard this year. A woman contacted me recently who was crying and upset because she did not know where to go to get help. She did not know what lines to use. I tried to get her as much information as I could. The Minister is trying to help but there is a lack of awareness and more information must be given in this regard.

The Minister has been working with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, on the crucial issue of notices. People on rental schemes who get notice from their landlord deserve three or six months' notice at least, depending on how long the tenant has been in place. We often speak about landlords in this committee. There are good landlords but there are also landlords who do not do enough. Rental accommodation must be inspected as people are living in places that definitely do not conform to health and safety standards and nobody is helping them. I do not suggest that all landlords are like that as there are very good landlords but perhaps some are not in a position to fix their properties. I have visited people in cases where I believe the local authority needs to step in. There must be more accountability in that sector.

I welcome the establishment of a €200 million local infrastructure housing activation fund, LIHAF. Every local authority needs to be accountable in this regard. We need to build houses regardless of whether they are Part V homes or are privately built. That is what is missing and every local authority needs to step up to the mark and be accountable for this because the €200 million is a nice bit of money and the Minister can work through the local authorities and his Department to deliver houses.

On the facility to purchase newly-built houses through the local authorities for the approved housing bodies, AHBs, can the Minister give the local authorities more information on that scheme? There are some good initiatives for the future but I believe the information is not going out correctly. The Minister was talking about figures and giving out to the newspapers. He should make sure everything goes out to the newspapers. He has to create awareness, because people do not know what is going on. They hear that there is no money for something but then hear the opposite from the local authorities. I am asking that the Minister make an awareness campaign his priority going forward.