Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I am glad the Senator has raised that point. Guidance has been given. Working that through on housing need was an issue at the start. In some instances, people may be underaccommodated. A family of four might be in a two-bedroom apartment, but to secure the tenancy, the property may be purchased with the understanding that the family may transfer somewhere else. The same applies for people who are overaccommodated, for want of a better phrase. By that, I mean situations where the home people are in is larger than what they would get through a normal allocation. In those instances, we have issued guidance to secure the property. It may be that such a tenant will transfer in time to somewhere more appropriate. That agreement would be put in place with the tenant in both of those instances. We need tenants to be clear on that. There may be extreme cases where, for example, a person is living alone in a three-bedroom house. I do not mean to call that "extreme". We have issued guidance to secure the tenancy where we can. It may mean that the tenant will move somewhere else in time and an agreement will be put in place for that to happen. The purchase happens with the clear understanding that the tenant may be moving to somewhere more appropriate. Guidance has been issued in that regard. There is a definition within the guidance that can be shared with the committee.

We have to allow local authorities some flexibility, to be fair. Some properties are in very bad shape and it may involve a six-figure sum to do up a property. There are reasons local authorities must be given discretion not to proceed with purchases.