Grace O'Sullivan (Green Party) | Oireachtas source

I, too, was at the launch. The report is a great contribution to the issue of local authority housing. I came back from the Netherlands in 2000 as a single parent with three children and went into social housing, so I know what it is like. As someone said earlier, it is very different from 30 years ago. The demographic has changed and the type of people who need support from the councils has changed. I am very grateful to the local authority in Waterford that facilitated me.

Did the deputation meet Department officials? What was their reaction to the report? The question of succession is something of a bugbear for me. I see it in my area in and around Waterford. There may be a family in a council house. Through the course of the years the children grow up and move out. Perhaps one member of the family is left with an ageing mother who then dies and then a single person is occupying a house that was designed for a family of five. These are some of the inefficiencies in the system. Is the deputation aware of that? Did they come across it while writing the report? Does the deputation have a best example of a local authority from the research? The report covers the future of council housing. Does the deputation have an example of another European country where council housing is being rolled out in an efficient and effective way? Could we look at such an example as a model?