James Browne (Wexford, Fianna Fail)

Mould or any kind of damp in any house, including State-provided houses, is totally unacceptable. I 100% agree with the Deputy on that. It is a very dangerous health hazard that can result in lifelong impacts on people. It should not be accepted or tolerated by any local authority. We give significant funding to help local authorities with refurbishment, regeneration and ensuring that properties are maintained but it is ultimately the responsibility of the local authorities. They are the landlords in this case and they need to provide quality homes. Where there are issues, they need to fix them. If somebody else provided the properties, the local authorities still need to fix them and to then go after whoever is responsible. The primary priority has to be ensuring those homes are safe. That means ensuring there is no mould.

I am bringing in all of the local authority CEOs. While I want them to build more homes as quickly as possible, they have to be quality homes and maintaining existing stock is a priority. As I mentioned earlier, local authorities need to use the rent they are collecting to maintain their properties. That is absolutely essential. It should not be diverted elsewhere. The money might be diverted to very worthy projects and, if the local authorities want to criticise me or someone else for not providing enough funding for those projects, that is fine. However, the primary purpose of local authorities as housing authorities is to ensure their properties are safe, secure and of a certain quality. Where properties are becoming a health hazard - mould is a very dangerous health hazard - that should be addressed immediately.