Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

There is a real concern here. Another issue raised at last week's meeting, and not for the first time, is that when a local authority builds a house the money is provided by the Department. They build the house. There is differential rent. People pay rent and if the person moves out, somebody else tenants that house. It is up to the local authority to maintain it. With an approved housing body, they get the money from the Department and build the housing. However, we are hearing that some of the AHBs that no longer have a mortgage will allocate the scheme. They will be given a list from the local authority in some cases while, in others, they bypass the local authority, but the local authority will then do a rental accommodation scheme, RAS, with them for the tenancies. The State has built the houses and then it will subsidise the rent even though there is not a mortgage. Where is the value for money in that? Who designed that? Who is the beneficial owner of these houses built by the AHBs after the mortgage?