Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I have always been very supportive of tenant purchase schemes. When one considers the houses purchased under such schemes, one will see that they are always kept in very good order. These schemes encourage people to help themselves and to look after their properties. In view of all the cutbacks that have occurred, it is very difficult to ensure that local authority properties are maintained.

Why do local authorities refuse to advance loans to people who are on social welfare payments even in circumstances where the loan repayments would be lower than the amount they pay in rent? It is ridiculous that the less well off are caught in this poverty trap. Will the Minister of State indicate if tenants who have been in their homes for 20 or 25 years will, under the proposed new scheme she outlined, be able to purchase those homes cheaper than would have been the case under the 1995 scheme or the 2012 scheme?

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