Ms Kathleen McKillion:

The non-profit sector has not been included in the steering group to develop proposals on HAP. We feel that as a key player in the sector, in partnership with local authorities, that needs to be addressed. We would like to be at the heart of that. We met separately with representatives of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and just a week or so ago we met the four Dublin directors of housing on how to address the current homeless problem and the high media profile issue concerning families. We need to be part of the formal structures.

Mr. McManus in his introduction mentioned how there should be more effective use of the stock we have currently, and we are well aware of void properties in local authority stock and concerns about access to funding and resources to carry out remedial works to bring them back to use. It is a significant issue. The Irish Council for Social Housing, ICSH, through housing association performance management, collects data on how long it takes to let a property from when one tenant leaves to when another moves in. We rely on the local authorities, which are the gatekeeper of all housing options, and the number one reason our member housing associations throughout the country tell us for the delay in properties being used, the number of which is rising yearly, is a delay in local authority nominations. We need to improve the efficiency of the process on the ground to see immediate outcomes.

There is an implementation plan from the housing oversight group relating to homelessness, which will be discussed this afternoon, and there are many recommendations and proposals in there. Part of the process must consider housing associations working in partnership with the local authority to bring stock back into use. The funding of all these strategies must be examined, as there is much conflicting need. The growing waiting list is evidenced by all, but some people are only there to access rent supplement, which is a major issue in itself. There is also the national disability strategy to consider, and everybody is trying to pull from the same limited housing supply. We have exhausted reliance on the private sector and we must get back to building. There must be a scheme to house special needs individuals and particularly the most vulnerable homeless people, including those with a disability and elderly people, but the budget for it has been slashed by over 60% in recent years. The capital loan and subsidy scheme, which housed families, no longer exists.

We have a big part to play and we are accessing private finance. Members inquired about impediments. The Housing Finance Agency has been lending to local authorities for a number of years and the ICSH has called for direct lending to housing associations. The doors opened on that a few years ago, although it is a slow two-stage process. Housing associations must be approved for certified borrowing status, and to date seven of the larger general needs housing associations have been granted such status. The feedback we get from members who have applied and have not been successful - there are many, including some homeless organisations and other special needs providers - is that the approval for this status has not been granted. We have spoken to representatives of the Housing Finance Agency with a view to almost having another tier of associations coming in with, for example, a lesser lending rate, because we need to get more associations involved. We have heard that money is available, and initially it was only available for acquisitions but it is now available for new builds. We welcome such movement but there is still a risk to the charitable non-profit housing associations in the initial construction phase. It is an iterative process which takes time, although we welcome further engagement on that.