Seán Fleming (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)

I will tell the Deputy. In each of the past few years in County Laois alone, and we are a small county, considerably more than 1,000 new houses have been built. Record numbers of local authority houses are being built. A total of 300 houses per annum are being built through the local authority. With the Part V provision in terms of the builders in the county, we are now in a situation whereby in parts of Laois there are not enough people to take up new social housing units. We have fully satisfied the demand in several parts of County Laois and are now taking people in from all the neighbouring counties and from outside the country as well. In Graiguecullen, for example, hundreds of new houses are being built and dozens are coming through the Part V system. The local authority is aware we do not have people to take up these social housing units and most of them are being allocated to the affordable housing scheme. The only issue I would ask the Government to take on board is to increase the income limit for people to allow them qualify for affordable housing because the limit is quite tight.

Year in, year out I listen to people whingeing about lack of money for the essential repairs and the disabled person's grants. The sole reason there is a lack of money for those grants in most counties is because the local authorities are controlled by people who will not allocate sufficient moneys in the annual estimates or draw down the funding from the Department. If a local authority assigns €100,000 for the provision of essential repairs or the disabled person's grant, for example, it will receive €200,000 from the Department. If it assigns €1 million, it will draw down €2 million, as has been done in County Laois. There are counties with populations three or four times that of County Laois in which local authorities have assigned less for those schemes in their estimates. Members from these counties then whinge that the Government does not provide sufficient resources, but it is their own party councillors in the local authorities who have allocated insufficient funding in their estimates to look after people in their area. I have seen first-hand evidence of this.

Laois is one of the few counties where there has been a significant reduction in the numbers on the waiting list for housing. The statistics in this regard were presented by the Minister, Deputy Roche, some months ago. Laois is top of the list in terms of building and has provided way above the allocation assigned to it in the five-year housing programme. Other councils, for a variety of reasons, did not get on with the job in hand. Instead, they procrastinated and protested that voluntary and social housing could not be situated in particular locations. That procrastination continues and the waiting lists persist.

The administration of the rental subsidy scheme should be a matter entirely for the housing authority in each area, which is the local authority. It is not the function of the Health Service Executive to administer funding for housing in cities, towns and rural areas. The executive has far more important work to undertake and its staff more pressing concerns. The local authorities should be given total responsibility in this regard. Currently, an individual seeking rental subsidy often must deal with both the local authority and the HSE. This unnecessary duplication should be eradicated.

There is no housing crisis in Laois and Offaly. There is, however, a shortage of houses in many local authorities and that is the fault of local representatives and management of the authorities. Instead of getting on with the job with the funding that is available, they complain that the waiting lists are increasing. There has never been a cutback in funding through the local authority for housing construction in County Laois. In that county, more than 1,000 housing units are being built in the private sector per annum. These figures can easily be verified by HomeBond and other agencies. I appeal to Members to come and see what is being done in Laois. New three-bedroom houses are for sale for €175,000 in beautiful towns and villages throughout the county. I cannot understand why other local authorities, if they take the same initiative, cannot achieve the same.

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