Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

May I say this before I leave that I disagree entirely? The failure of the system goes back at least ten to 15 years when responsibility was transferred from the local authorities for carrying the burden of local authority housing. While that policy continues in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government we will never resolve the problem. I do not want to dwell on the situation where people were not eligible for a local authority house because their income was too high and were not eligible for a local authority loan because their income was too low. One has only to ask my constituents and those of my colleagues what they thought about the system that operated then. I am sorry, Chairman, I am not going to delay the meeting, and I know I am barging in and barging out again but I disagree fundamentally with the assessment as put forward. I listened to it on the screen from the other side of the House. Until such time as there is a major departure from the Department's policy of reliance on the local authorities or private housing bodies or the private sector we will not solve the problem. It is important to remember that for a number of years the Department of Social Protection carried the responsibility of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government for local authority houses but should not have done so. It was not the desired policy of anybody and certainly we were not consulted about it. My final point on the issue is simply this: it was only supposed to be a temporary solution to replace the local authorities through the Department of Social Protection but it went on forever. I appeal to the Chairman not to allow us continue down that road because that will not solve the housing problem. Approximately 2,000 families are homeless around the city and there are others all around the country. We have had much repetition of the obstacles that affect the problem and we know what they are. I believe I know the obstacles and the Chairman believes he knows them. Please, can we focus on them? I am sorry about that, Chairman.