Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Many of the questions that I was going to ask have been asked, so I thank the witnesses for their answers. Senator Clifford-Lee mentioned local authorities and local authority housing. In a situation where somebody is under pressure or there is domestic violence, what are the experiences of the witnesses with regard to interaction with local authorities, especially for people living in local authority houses when trying to get a transfer out of the house or to seek other local authority housing? They are locked in with means tests and such with their partners. How can one navigate that, given the dangers of divulging information?

With regard to people in private accommodation, a woman rang me recently who has been with somebody for 25 or 30 years and wants to go because of the situation. She cannot apply for local authority housing because she owns half a house. There are all those implications. In my experience, this arose often with men contacting me ten or 15 years ago as a result of marriages breaking up, particularly men in their 50s. A man would own half a house with his wife and, therefore, could not get on a local authority list. This is it in a different guise but the same matters pertain with regard to assets. Has there been any progress in local authorities regarding these hard cases or does the status quostill exist?