Mr. Ned Brennan:

I am happy to take those questions. Rural rehousing is important. We are currently taking over 21 units from Rural Resettlement Ireland. There is a cluster of 21 units around east Clare. They had been developed as a one-off houses in the past 15 years. Now, Rural Resettlement Ireland is giving up the business and we are taking over the management of those houses. Generally speaking, we would only develop new houses where we have an existing cluster of houses. That is the only limitation. We develop new houses where we have an existing structure in place already.
Reference was made to tenant purchase. We are not opposed to tenant purchase per se. However, there is certainly a case to be made for a portion or percentage of houses which are paid for out of the State purse to be available all the time for people in need of housing and this is the argument we have made for the past 20 years. Rather than selling off the silverware in a cycle every 20 years, some of the silverware should be kept for those in need of housing. Such people will always be with us and in our society.
Reference was made to the funding of the local authority sector in comparison with the funding of the approved bodies. The local authority sector has been curtailed because its source is Government funding and the funding shows up on the balance sheet. Given the role of the troika and the financial downturn in recent years, the State has been unable to leverage the amount of capital funding necessary to deliver social housing. However, with a little innovation and new thinking the voluntary sector has been able to continue to work to access funding with the assistance and support of the State, in small percentage terms, in the delivery of various forms of funding under different models.