Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I have spoken to the Minister of State about the procurement process, which has been part of the delay. Some of that may have been overcome at this stage because there are now lists of contractors who can be called upon. I heard about it from staff within the local authority in Kildare. They were tearing their hair out over the delay. They wanted to get work done on the 49 vacant houses in Kildare. One could have put tenants in every one of them ten times over and one would still not have dealt with all the people who are in an urgent situation. Could the Minister of State tell us something about that procurement process? Am I correct in saying there has been some improvement?

I do not doubt that anyone would make the same point as I am making, but when houses are vacant they often suffer further damage. Putting in shutters is very expensive. I remember hearing that it cost a couple of hundred euro per month. If one replicates this around the country, it represents a very large cost which must be added to the cost of rent assistance. It makes economic and social sense to turn these houses over quickly. Deputy Coppinger referred to the point of view of homeless people who see shuttered houses when they say they will take anything in any condition - even something smaller than their family would need. It causes offence to people in need of housing. I would be interested in hearing what the Minister of State has to say about the procurement process.

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