Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Deputy Murphy has raised the issue of staffing on a number of occasions and we are certainly aware of it. We want to ensure people are not held up and can get into accommodation. We are speaking about people on rent supplement at present. I acknowledge the inspection system is not as good as it should be. In the system in Dublin, to which Deputy Ellis referred, there was a particularly targeted inspection in a particular part of the city and the reason so many of the accommodation units failed was because it was targeted to an area with a need for inspection to ensure standards were correct. We need to improve constantly the situation with regard to standards and inspections and ensure everybody, no matter what type of housing they are in, is in accommodation suitable to their needs. We are trying to be practical and learn from the trial period with the seven local authorities which will be the first into HAP. We will examine in particular the capacity of local authorities and their ability to carry out these inspections. We will examine all of this as part of the trial period.

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