Mr. Brian O'Gorman:

I thank the Members of the Oireachtas joint committee for the invitation to address them today.

Clúid Housing Association began as St. Pancras Housing Ireland, was registered as a company in 1994 and our first scheme was completed and tenanted in December 1995, almost 18 years ago. St. Pancras Housing became Clúid in 1995 and Clúid has grown rapidly throughout its life. It now owns a stock of 3,700 dwellings and manages another 1,300 dwellings on behalf of other social housing providers.

I am sometimes asked what are the benefits of housing associations when local authorities have successfully provided social housing for many years. I can give a number of answers to such an important question. First, it is right to have a number of different providers of social housing because competition and choice serves to improve the quality of services provided to tenants.

Second, housing associations are able to attract loan finance from the Housing Finance Agency as well as commercial lenders. This, combined with a Government loan means that the social housing budget can deliver increased supply. This is a particularly important point in current economic circumstances.

Third, housing associations benefit from voluntary input which brings additional benefits to social housing provision. In Clúid's case this includes our board members, all of whom work without remuneration and bring a large range of skills and experiences.

Finally, being non-governmental bodies means that housing associations are in a unique position to develop innovative responses to housing needs in Ireland. An example is Clúid's pioneering work in progressing the mortgage-to-rent scheme. After two years of very frustrating work the scheme is beginning to produce tangible results.

As Dr. Norris has noted, in many countries most social housing is provided by NGOs and monitored by the State rather than directed by the State. The role of the local authority remains central to the provision of housing association social housing. They decide where our housing is built, what form the building takes and all of our residents are approved by the local authority before occupation.

We have worked very closely with successive governments. We are committed to establishing and maintaining effective relationships with staff in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Housing Agency.

Clúid aims to provide professional quality housing services to residents. Customers, from whatever source, deserve the best service possible. All of our property management staff are licensed to manage property through the Property Services Regulatory Authority. Our properties are built or acquired to the highest standards available within budget. Our quality services help to counter the stigma often associated with social housing.

Clúid is a strong supporter of the Irish Council for Social Housing which is the Federation of Housing Associations. We contribute positively to the growth of the housing association movement. We believe that the housing association model is an important component in meeting housing needs now and in the future.

We are very conscious of the State's large investment in the social housing that we have provided. We take this responsibility seriously and are a strong advocate of greater regulation. We work to high standards of governance. In particular, we are committed to maintaining our property to a high standard in order to continue to use these dwellings for social housing far into the future. So far this year we have spent €2.1 million on maintaining our housing stock.

Clúid is a strong supporter of regulation and views regulation as having three distinct components. First, is the protection of residents, which is being accomplished through the extension of the Residential Tenancies Act to housing association tenancies. The legislation is going through the Oireachtas at present.

Second, is the governance of organisations, including the board. That is the main objective of the Department's publication entitled Building for the Future.

Third, is the monitoring of housing association performance. At present this is organised amongst the housing associations through the Irish Council for Social Housing through the housing association performance management system, HAPM, in which quarterly returns are provided. Progress has been made but we seek stronger regulation. Above all we seek independent, verifiable regulation and governance, the absence of which acts as an obstacle to investors who wish to enter the market, as Dr. Norris has pointed out. Without independence a regulatory process that involves financial and performance data lacks credibility.

I am accompanied by three colleagues from Clúid. Mr. Cathal Callan is director of finance. He has spent many years working in the UK where he was exposed to the mixed funding regime that is being introduced here. Ms Kath Cottier is the regional director in Dublin and is currently a member of the strategic policy committee of the Dublin City Council. Mr. Simon Brooke is head of policy. He is a well known independent research and housing consultant. I thank the members of the committee for their attention and I am happy to answer questions.