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

I will make two points. The specific issue, while it relates to the flat complexes because they are some of the older stock, also relates to some of the stock in the voluntary sector, such as The Iveagh Trust, which are even older. The Iveagh Trust is currently considering moving some of its social housing stock into affordable housing because it is having financial difficulties with refurbishments. Professor Michelle Norris and Dr. Aideen Hayden did an important report a year ago, which looked specifically at this problem. The difficulty is that local authorities are not given sufficient funding to manage and maintain their stock, which means when it get to a certain point, it is then in a serious state of disrepair. That deserves a stand-alone hearing.

On the approval process, there are two issues. The first is the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government four-stage approval process for social housing approval and delivery and the second is the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform public spending code. Both are a problem. A hearing with both Departments would be good. City and county managers from across the country regularly complain to the committee about how that these processes are strangling their ability to delivery stock more quickly. A stand-alone session next year to consider those two issues with responses from the City and County Managers Association, CCMA, and a collection of local authority managers from rural and urban Ireland would be useful.