Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)

The management and maintenance of local authority housing stock is a matter for individual authorities under section 58 of the Housing Act 1966 and I do not want to trespass into that area. I am allocating resources, but the utilisation of such resources in terms of value for money and improvement work plans for vacant properties is a matter for the local authorities concerned. Local authority members do not want the Minister to think he or she knows all or to be dictated to by the Custom House. I will not be a dictator to local authorities and will work with them to ensure they achieve their objectives. As somebody who came through it, I am a great believer in the local authority system.

The figures provided relate to 2009 but I do not doubt many of the figures for vacant stock have improved since then. Individual housing authorities and the County and City Managers' Association are actively pursuing measures to increase efficiency and reduce turnaround times for refurbishing and re-letting vacant stock. The local government value for money audit also provided information in this regard. Local authorities may be constrained by the moratorium and other factors but I am sure they are aware of the need to reduce turnaround times to maximise the number of units available for allocation. They should be innovative and think outside the box in terms of incorporating some of the solutions proposed today in their strategies. It is important to work with trade unions within the local authorities to ensure everybody is singing from the same hymn sheet. The last thing I want to see, as the son of a former local authority worker, is displacement of local authority employees. I am stating this vested interest so that people cannot say that I argued for this without saying where I came from. Local authority employees have done exceptional work over the years.

It is important to discuss with the unions ways in which some of the schemes that were advocated today may be incorporated as part of the solution. If there are almost 4,300 houses, that means there are potentially 4,300 households which could be paying money into the local authorities. In other words, although it may be somewhat circular, it is a way of getting money in. This, in turn, would increase the money available for further housing maintenance programmes, perhaps allowing local authorities to replace staff who have retired in order to carry out the necessary remedial works. It is a win-win situation and I am open to suggestions. However, I will not dictate to local authorities on how they should do their work.

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