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

I read the report. We all have concerns, particularly about local authorities.

I raise the issue of rent payments. The reason for the 97% figure is that they scald people. Letters are sent constantly. I have a concern. We are not a bank. I was a councillor for 20 years. As a councillor I worked with the housing department. If one misses one payment, one can be guaranteed to receive a letter from the local authority. The local authority represents the people who most need it. It is not good to constantly send letters. I have said this to the local authorities. We are not a bank and should remember this. I see what has happened as rents have gone up. It depends on how many people are in the household. If there are five people bringing in an income, the rent is based on their combined income. I have dealt with several cases recently where the local authority had not been informed of an extra income and then backdated the payment when it was so informed. I am dealing with tenants who owe thousands and will have to come to some agreement. Some local authority tenants would have a mortgage repayment that would be cheaper than what they are paying to the local authority. Are we losing the sense of what the role of a local authority should be? I am very respectful of the local authorities and will always work with them, but we need to say we are not a bank. That is my biggest concern. The reason 97% of rents are paid is that local authorities send letters.

I will ask about the tenant purchase scheme. It did not work from the beginning. It was stopped for a few years and then the new scheme was brought forward. The new scheme is not fit for purpose as there has to be an income of 50% coming into the household. It is not fair. There might be people living in local authority houses who never want to buy their own house. That is fine and we must respect that view. If one has worked all of one's life and has a pension and wants to buy the house after 20 or 30 years, that is an entitlement which I do not think should be taken away from any person. Adding the 50% income criterion has done a disservice to people. People have come to my clinic whose children have been reared and who now have a little pension. They were able to enjoy life and wanted to buy their house, but they do not qualify. I had another person come to who had won money and wanted to buy his house, but because he was not working he was not able to buy it. I totally disagree with this. If someone has been a good tenant, done up his or her house and never engaged in anti-social behaviour, it is unfair to take that right away from him or her. It is unjust and I do not agree with it. Perhaps 80% of people will not want to buy their house and we are respectful of that decision. We are like the AHBs because they do not do it. We are turning that corner and like Clúid, Respond and Tinteán which do not allow tenants to buy their houses. Every time a tenant wants to do something, he or she has to ring and find out. I do not think that is good. The entirlement should not be taken away. The scheme is not fit for purpose and needs to be looked at. It is unfair to have a rule about having an income of 50% before someone's case is even looked at. Loads of people have applied and been told that they qualify, but they still have not received any word about it. I am not here to criticise any local authority as I worked in the system, but there is never a timescale. If someone goes into the local authority with a form and has qualified, for how long does he or s he have to wait? There does not seem to be a timescale. It is something that needs to be addressed.

I want to talk about the local property tax. People are only surviving, about which there is no question. Particularly in rural Ireland, including in my area of Carlow, people are only making ends meet. Increasing the tax is not good, but I know that we have to get finances. If one talks about repairs and the money coming in, the problem is there is a different system for carrying out repairs in every local authority. One local authority will carry out four or five repairs in a house. It might fix the windows and doors, put in a kitchen or fix a leak. Other state they do not do any of this because their funding is too low. They will only fix electrical problems or roofs because they are health and safety issues. If a roof is leaking, they will fix it.

The delegates mentioned a seminar held with county managers. There is a need for a policy across every local authority. It is very unfair that some local authorities are not receiving the same money as others, which means that they are not carrying out the same repairs. It is causing conflict. I am not blaming the local authorities, but a policy needs to be put in place.

I will be addressing that with the local authorities.

There are massive issues with HAP, as previous speakers have noted.