Oireachtas Joint and Select Committees
Thursday, 16 February 2023
Public Accounts Committee
2021 Report of the Comptroller and Auditor General and Appropriation Accounts
Vote 40 - Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (Resumed)
9:30 am
Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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So, if the provider were to advise that they have a property with a capacity for more than 15 but a local authority fire officer says it can actually only accommodate 11 people, do I take it the property would no longer be used for that purpose?
Yes. Our intention is not to be contracting properties for fewer than 15 people. Obviously, there is the offer-a-home scheme, which the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and the local authorities are operating, where any vacant homes can be offered for use to Ukrainians. They are individual, stand-alone homes, typically second properties owned by people, but we do not contract in that space. Our offer portal makes clear what our requirements are for any valid offer, and that threshold of 15 is clearly stated. The person providing the offer would have to meet certain space requirements and provide evidence the property meets the requirement, including documentary and photographic evidence, as part of the application.