Mark Wall (Labour)
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I thank the Chairman. I thank my colleague, Senator Rebecca Moynihan, for allowing me to be part of the Kildare festival of questions that my other colleagues have had answered so far. I welcome Ms Kavanagh and Ms Aspell to the meeting today. I also thank our colleagues from Meath.

I put my congratulations and thanks to the staff of the housing section of Kildare County Council. It is very important that we as members acknowledge the job they do, day in and day out. It is a very difficult job and it is getting much more difficult each day. They are always at the end of the phone and they are always there to help. I would like Ms Kavanagh and Ms Aspell to bring it back to the staff in the housing section that we value them and we value what they do for us as public representatives. As bad as our job is at the moment, theirs is not a job I would particularly like now given the amount of people who are ringing them day in and day out. We get a lot of calls but I am sure the housing section in the council is getting them as well. I just wanted to put this on the record.

Some of the questions have been asked already but I wish to recap on some of them.

The first is the issue of tenants in situ, which has been asked already. Are we running into problems with the end of the year? Will we be in a position to close the sales the councils have initiated? I thank the staff who have done that because it is very rewarding and comforting for those who know they will be in a social house coming into the new year. Are there any issues with that? Do we need an extension from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to allow those sales to go through? In conversations I have had there have been issues with banks etc. in getting deeds etc., so that is an issue. The witnesses might comment on that.

Ms Aspell has given us a comprehensive list of vacant properties through her responses and her presentation. We chase that up daily. I have spoken to the council's staff members. Is Kildare getting enough support from the Department to bring those voids or empty houses back into use as family homes? It is an issue I get calls on, and I am sure Deputy Patricia Ryan beside me gets calls on it regularly. People are not seeing houses in their estates. The witnesses might comment on that.

The witnesses spoke about affordable housing earlier in the meeting. Where does Kildare stand in that regard? Many people I deal with are looking to purchase their own houses. It is an issue I have spoken to the council about on numerous occasions. Is the council getting the support from the Department to have the staff necessary for affordable housing and its delivery? The witnesses might comment on that.

Then there is the land needed to build houses, which is the road we should go down. Has Kildare County Council identified such land? Again, is it getting the support to purchase such land? Most important to me, coming from the very south of Kildare, is whether the council has identified land in the south that can become homes in the likes of Monasterevin, Rathangan, Kildare town and across to Castledermot and the town of Athy.

To speak about tenants, Kildare County Council is putting out the air-to-water scheme at the moment, and that seems to be rolled out very well, but how much of that is happening? How many tenants has the council identified the scheme will be available to this year?

The question of windows and doors is an old chestnut of mine. Is there a scheme the council has launched for tenants this year as well? It is an issue in keeping our own stock up to the best possible standard. That is a question I am asked regularly.

I have a question about the general grants, that is, the housing aid and housing adaptation grants. Again, I thank the council's staff, who do an amazing job in that regard. I have raised this a couple of times in these Houses in the context of the current standards and the current limits. Is that happening? People are not able to fill out grants because the limit is simply not big enough. The €30,000 limit for the housing adaptation grant does not seem to be enough, given the serious rise in building costs. Is that coming across the desks of Kildare County Council's staff?

Specifically, on the great town of Athy, with which the witnesses will be very familiar, and the Dominican lands and the Ardrew lands it is developing there, they are very welcome developments, but where are they at the moment?

Finally, Kildare County Council is about to deliver two Respond projects in Glebelands and in Flinters, in Athy. May I ask in the time I have left about the council's relationship with voluntary housing associations? Is the council happy it is getting the response from Respond not only in this case but in voluntary housing associations in general?