Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I will outline to the House the plans we have to amend and update existing housing legislation as part of a programme to reform the social housing sector.

My Department is drafting the heads of a housing miscellaneous provisions Bill to give effect to the policy initiatives set out in Housing Policy Framework — Building Sustainable Communities, which was published before Christmas. This policy document builds on recent progress in providing social and affordable housing by setting out the fundamentals of the Government's vision for housing policy over the coming years. The document will be followed up by a policy statement that will provide more detail on the principles of policy and set out an agenda for implementation. The Bill is being prepared in tandem with this policy statement.

The Bill seeks to support the creation of a flexible and graduated system of housing supports for those in need of housing, to improve customer choice to meet changing requirements over a person's lifetime, to streamline, and in key areas strengthen, the powers of housing authorities while at the same time making clearer their responsibilities as social landlords and regulators of social housing generally. To these ends, the Bill will provide the legislative basis for the new rental accommodation scheme, a revised tenant purchase scheme, including the sale of local authority flats to their tenants, and strengthen the powers for local authorities to combat anti-social behaviour.

Referring specifically to the provisions relating to tenant purchase, the Bill will allow local authority flats to be sold to their tenants under certain conditions. Previous efforts to sell local authority flats were thwarted by the difficulties associated with the management of flat complexes, insurance, the cost of maintenance and the transfer of legal title. Taking full account of proposals put forward by local authorities, we are devising arrangements that will address these issues and for which new legislation is needed.

The Bill will also strengthen the powers of housing authorities relating to anti-social behaviour. There will be an improved process for dealing with individual cases. There will be an improved process for dealing with individual cases of anti-social behaviour, stronger powers to exclude and evict persons engaged in it and a wider definition of what constitutes such behaviour. The responsibilities of housing authorities will dovetail with the new powers relating to anti-social behaviour being conferred on the Garda and the courts by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.

Deputies will agree that this will be major legislation, and it is essential that we get it right. This means going through a necessary preparatory process, including consultation with housing authorities and other key stakeholders, detailed drafting and discussions with Government colleagues. The work in preparing the Bill is well advanced but any attempt to rush it could result in corners being cut, with consequent problems arising down the line. We are avoiding this by taking the time to formulate workable legislation that will make a major contribution to meeting the Government's plans for reforming the social housing sector.

I heard what Deputy Gormley said. It is the intention to bring in some of the amendments by next January. We hope to have the heads of the Bill through Cabinet possibly by the summer. Drafting them and introducing them to the House could take six or nine months but presumably that would not stop us announcing the scheme, though it might stop us finalising a sale. We hope later in the year to announce the broad details of what we are talking about.

I met the people of whom Deputy Gormley spoke and I hope I did not dismiss them, though I might have dismissed their idea.

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