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

I have no issue with the change in the part of section 16 that deals with tenants in situ. Ms Cooney explained clearly that she believes it is legally necessary. I am not challenging that. The Department heard from the largest AHB in the country this morning that it will not change the current challenge in getting AHBs to purchase those units stuck with the Housing Agency because the problems, not unlike with mortgage to rent, are about the dispersed nature of the properties and the management and maintenance costs. If we make this change, the Department could be back before this committee in six months and I could be giving the witnesses a hard time because I could be saying this has not solved the problem. Is anything else being done by the Department to fix that? I know it is not a big number of properties but it can be appreciated it would be great to get that fixed. Can Ms Cooney tell us anything else the Department is working on to resolve those matters? Is there an option, for example, for local authorities to take them into stock as tenants in situ? They would not necessarily have the same challenges in dispersal. They would have the financial challenges. Is there any consideration, if there is a financial gap, that there might be a mechanism to bridge it?