Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I am thankful for the opportunity to raise this issue in the House. I am glad the Minister of State is present to respond to what I have to say. I have become increasingly aware of this difficulty in the last 18 months, since I was elected to the Dáil. It has been raised with me by individuals in my local area on many occasions. If that experience is replicated throughout the country, it is a big problem that needs to be addressed. As the Minister of State is aware, if one is to qualify for local authority housing and get one's name onto the local authority housing list, one must be deemed to have a housing need. If one is to qualify for the payment of rent supplement, one needs to be on the housing list or be able to prove one has been living in private rented accommodation for six of the past 12 months. If one's name is already listed on the deeds of another house, one will not qualify for inclusion on a local authority housing list. Although this condition generally makes absolute sense, we need to consider the circumstances of couples that have recently separated. That is the point I am raising. The impact of separation on a family unit is huge.

It is big enough, given the trauma involved for both partners and the children when they reach the stage where they realise they need to go their separate ways, for whatever reason. The lack of a place to live is extremely stressful and an added difficulty.

The recently published census results for 2011 record the number of separated persons at 116,194, up marginally from the corresponding figure for 2006. Unfortunately, a number of separated persons, some with children, whom I have met are not finding it possible to source housing owing to their names remaining on the deeds of a home in which they can no longer live because their ex-partner is living there. One of the cases of which I am aware involves an individual who bought a property with his then wife. He has recently separated from her and she has remained living in the family home with their children. He had some underlying health issues and depression was a problem. He has done his best by his family by moving out and trying to deal with his own specific circumstances. The couple have separated amicably, but he has no options and nowhere to go. He is sleeping on the couch of an extended family member. This is because his name is attached to the deeds of the property and he is deemed not to have a housing need.

Another factor impacting on this problem is the length of time taken by financial institutions to reach solutions on non-performing loans. I am aware of one case in which a house is due to be repossessed by a bank. The couple have separated. The husband remains in the home, while his wife and their two children are searching for accommodation without success. They are, therefore, literally homeless. Once the bank completes the repossession, both parties will become eligible for housing, but this could take months. In the meantime, the wife and children have nowhere to live. They have approached the community welfare officer for help, but they can only receive an emergency needs payment, a once-off payment which cannot be used as a basis for securing access to any property.

I have spoken to staff in my local authority, Kildare County Council, about some of these cases and, while they are hugely sympathetic, they consider their hands are tied and they have to operate within the rules, rules which do not appear to offer significant discretion for persons who find themselves in the very difficult situations to which I have referred. Often, those most affected are newly separated who have had to move out of the family home, perhaps at short notice or after a lengthy period of difficulty in a relationship. The decision to leave the family home is not an easy one, but sometimes it can be in the best interests of the partner and the children.

I am aware that, once a separation process has been gone through in the courts and forms of legal separation have been agreed, there can be more discretion under the housing system. However, this is of no help in the cases with which I am dealing in which those involved have not yet reached this stage of the process and find themselves with no housing options. I ask the Minister of State to review the regulations in place to see if discretion can be applied in the cases of individuals who find themselves in these very difficult situations. It should be possible to either free up staff in the local authorities to have more directions in these cases in the short term, or else consider integration with the Department of Social Protection in order that community welfare officers will have discretion to deal with these cases as they arise. It is a very big issue and I am glad the Minister of State is here to deal with the topic.

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