Seán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I support the point made by Deputy Broughan. The Minister has expressed the view that there are guidelines in place and that local authorities are implementing them. The reality is that if the practice is enshrined in legislation, it will have far more effect in local authorities than it is having by virtue of simply being a guideline that is issued to them. I envy the position the Deputy appears to have in north County Dublin where arrears only arise in situations where assessments are done. My experience is that arrears arise solely because people have not been paying their rent, and that is a real difficulty. For such people there must be urgent early intervention to address that issue because the longer the problem goes on, the more difficult it is for that problem to be solved. People who get into significant arrears in those circumstances are under pressure and they will make unrealistic commitments in terms of the moneys they say they will pay. The approach of the local authority will be to say that the tenant has been in arrears and that he or she entered into an agreement which he or she has now broken when the reality is that the tenant would never be able to keep to the terms of the agreement in the first instance.

The point is not unrelated to the earlier point made by Deputy Dessie Ellis. In engagements with the local authority there is often a need for the tenant who goes into such circumstances to be accompanied by someone who will be able to tell them not to promise to pay an additional €30, €40 or €50 per week when the reality is that they do not have a hope in hell of paying that and that it would be much better to pay an extra €5, €10 or €15 a week and be able to honour that commitment in the long term and reduce their arrears. If what is in place is not working effectively, will the Minister at least look at putting this into the legislation so it can be given added strength?

See this speech in context