Mr. Padraig McNally:

I refer back to the provisions for voluntary housing bodies, about which there are a number of problems. We are not opposed to the whole concept, but we believe it must be tightly regulated for a number of reasons. First, the voluntary housing bodies appear to be buying houses without consultations with local authorities on where houses are actually needed. I could give the committee several examples of houses acquired by voluntary housing bodies 18 months ago, 30% to 40% of which are still vacant because they are in locations in which people do not want to live. These houses were bought only because they were very cheap.

Second, housing provided by voluntary housing bodies is often expensive. I know of one woman who left such a house because her rent was so high. She was an old-age pensioner who was being charged €76 per week in rent, which she could not afford. She only stayed in the accommodation for eight months.

Third, there is no ability to buy from voluntary housing agencies. These bodies have vacant homes because families, in particular, will hold out and resist entering a scenario where they will never own their own home. Given that Government money was provided - in the initial period at least - it is regrettable that there is no requirement for voluntary housing bodies to sell a percentage of the properties they own to people who will remain in them for the rest of their lives.

Fourth, voluntary housing bodies are not required to take account of an individual's position on the housing waiting list. They are contacting people whom they think are suitable, regardless of where they are on the list in terms of points acquired for waiting and so forth. A lot more regulation is required in this area.