Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 30:

In page 47, between lines 31 and 32, to insert the following: "(6) Within six months of the passing of this Act, the Minister shall commission a report, following engagement with all relevant stakeholders, on the establishment of an AHB resolution scheme dealing with all issues involved in stock transfer including the legal, financial and consultative issues involved.".

I do not expect the Minister to support the amendment but I just wish to make the case again. I understand that the legislation is framed to move the regulatory framework to the next step, the statutory footing, and that, at a later stage, other issues, such as a resolution process and fund, may be addressed. Over the next decade, small voluntary-sector and in many cases rural approved housing bodies with very small numbers of units, set up by voluntary boards, will have board members retiring, passing away or moving on. We could end up with stock that starts to become the subject of resolution and transfer to larger bodies or bodies that are more competent. There are major issues involved in this and I am not saying it is in any way easy. Considerable issues arise over the condition of the stock, the mechanism by which stock is transferred, who makes the decision and with whose consent, the source of the funding, and whether there are sinking funds or structural issues. I accept this is not the Bill in which to deal with all these matters. That case has been made convincingly, and I have been convinced. I have moved the amendment, however, because I still believe it deals with work that needs to be examined over the coming years by the Department. This is the only mechanism I can put on the table to allow me to make this important point.

The Minister was not here when I last raised the issue of a very considerable stock transfer of very newly built units in my constituency. It is a matter of public record. Cara Housing Association had to transfer some of the units from Méile an Rí drive back to the local authority. They were the subject of a very significant controversy over a company called Gama. It was widely documented in the press at the time. The building quality was of such a poor standard that the approved housing body could no longer finance the maintenance of the stock. There was a very public transfer. That was not necessarily the happiest of transfers. I am not saying the local authority commented on it publicly but it had to take on significant additional liability.

Resolution will become an issue whether we like it or not. The decision-making process and financing will become issues.

The Minister is going to explain why he cannot accept the amendment but I would like him to at least accept the spirit in which I am raising this issue. We will all have to return to it in the medium term.