Mattie McGrath (Tipperary South, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I welcome classes from Coláiste Dún Iascaigh who are in the Visitors Gallery today.

I compliment the work of the voluntary bodies, as I am sure the Minister and all other Members do. I am the chairperson of Caislean Nua Voluntary Housing Association and I wish to pay a special tribute to the members of its small committee. Most of them are older than me and they do tremendous work, as do voluntary groups throughout the country. I am not referring to Respond! Housing Association and the many other groups which also do great work, but to the several hundred smaller groups that are of and for the community. They volunteer their time on a daily basis, because there are always issues to be dealt with. Thankfully, last Christmas was nice but two years ago the water pipes froze and there were leaks in some houses. The committee members had to go out and deal with the residents. There is a wonderful bond between the residents and the committees of these voluntary association boards.

The boards are voluntary and limited by guarantee. As such they are subject to many statutory obligations in respect of financial regulations, company law, the residential tenancies legislation and regulations relating to good housekeeping and respect for tenants. There is a range of issues to be addressed on Committee Stage, particularly measures to protect tenants and tenants' deposits from illegal retention and to tackle the non-payment of rent by tenants remaining in situ. These are two of the most common issues that arise. Anybody who has been a member of a local authority has been confronted with these issues. I compliment the housing staff in both North and South Tipperary County Councils, Waterford County Council and, indeed, all county councils, especially the staff who deal sensitively with these issues. The rent collectors in south Tipperary have been very professional in doing their job and have always had a very high collection rate.

I pay special tribute to Donal McManus and his colleagues on the Irish Council for Social Housing. They provide an outstanding support for the local groups, especially the fledgling groups I like to encourage. Indeed, we encouraged one in Ballymacarbry, County Waterford, and the former President, Mary McAleese, came down to officially open its estate. The people got involved and it was a joy. There is a great deal of work involved in procuring the site and planning, appointing architects and builders and generally overseeing the job. It is not easy to deal with Departments over the different stages. While departmental officials have a job to do, issues came to the fore towards the end of that development about VAT and so forth which were unclear and caused a great deal of trauma and angst. Thankfully, however, they were resolved. I thank Niall Morrissey who was the liaison between the Department and the group. He is now chief executive officer of South Tipperary Development Company. He is a very able and dignified official. He is also very respectful of community groups. That is what is required. What we must not do with this Bill is in any way damage or frighten the community initiative. That is vital.

Due to low funding in the Department most houses are being allocated by local authorities through the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. Even though funding has been cut to the bone, I still see value for money being achieved and careful, neat and clever design. Indeed, there is a competition bi-annually at the annual conference for the different schemes and designs, not only for housing but also for community facilities and all the different aspects of creating a home and special place for residents. The different ideas, designs and clever concepts make life a fulfilling experience for the residents. There is nothing more satisfactory for a voluntary board than being able to house people who are in need. We had one case just after last Christmas. The person had left their community, bought a house in a different county but it did not work out and they became homeless. It was very meaningful and delightful to help. We have a strict tenancy agreement which must be respected by both sides but one can deal sensitively with it and make people's lives better.

The demand for the dispute resolution service of the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, has increased, but the number of staff in the PRTB has reduced. The most recent annual report stated that 2010 was a challenging year for the dispute resolution service with an unprecedented 2,230 dispute applications being received, representing an increase of 20%. Sadly, I have no figures for 2011 or 2012 but I believe the figure has increased simply because of the economic depression. People have lost their jobs and incomes and are challenged in many ways with bank loans and so forth. More staff are needed in the PRTB as we must deal with that issue sensitively. It is not fair on the staff either. I compliment the staff because it is a very delicate area.

In that regard, I wish to pay tribute to the council housing liaison officers, especially the officers in south Tipperary, Tess Collins and Catriona Crowe. They must deal with severe problems on a daily basis. Often it can be quite intimidating but they do it with decorum, respect, utmost sensitivity and confidentiality, which is very important. That is also required of the voluntary sector in respect of its tenants. I hope that area will be strengthened as there are not enough of these officers. Given their budgets, it is a challenge for councils to maintain them, but they must be supported. Above all, they must be allowed to do their work without fear or favour and to sort out issues early. We have seen the work that has been done in the Cooleens Close area in Clonmel.

There is also the work the RAPID - Revitalising Areas by Planning, Investment and Development - programme assisted on the fringes of voluntary schemes and also in deprived areas in the towns of Cashel, Tipperary and Clonmel. It is a shame that RAPID funding for the co-ordinators has been withdrawn under this Government. To its credit, South Tipperary County Council has decided it will try to shore up the money - it was getting 60% of the funding - for the co-ordinators, who are doing an outstanding job in those three towns. They are getting down to the problem areas in the communities. The value for money of those RAPID programmes within the housing stock in the socially deprived areas, the work they have done and the schemes they have brought forward cannot be let go. South Tipperary County Council saw the value of that and has tried to put the money together to retain the co-ordinators. However, there will be no funding for the programmes. That is wasteful. The Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, promoted and supported that programme in her constituency, where it was badly needed. That programme has done valuable work and we must not throw the baby out with the bath water. We are in an economic depression but that type of value and support is vital. That is evident. If anybody carried out an audit of its value in any Department, there would be no questions asked and it would not be touched. It would be saved, ring-fenced, supported and enhanced.

While I do not wish to be critical of departmental officials, I sometimes wonder why they do these things. We saw it again two weeks ago with the monitored alarms which are used in the voluntary schemes and also in private houses. A decision was taken to cut them but, thankfully, they had to go back on that decision. These decisions cannot be taken with the stroke of a pen. We must support the voluntary sector as well as the local authority housing sector. I am a strong supporter of the voluntary sector. We must protect it and encourage it. We cannot oblige its volunteers to stay up for nights filling in complicated quasi-legal documents. They must pay for legal advice, although my group has a very good and supportive legal adviser in Aine Ryan. It is intimidating. We also must have audited accounts every year. There are many obligations that people do not see. However, that is my view on the situation at present.

See this speech in context