Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

But for the press conference held last Tuesday at 11 a.m. by the Housing Action Group, which was attended by the media, I would wager that nobody would be aware of what is contained in this Bill. People's lives will be seriously affected by the provisions of this Bill yet most people are completely unaware of it.

This Bill seeks to wipe out housing wait lists and privatise housing, which will result in people being placed in insecure situations with no prospect of security. I spoke at a meeting last week on the northside of Dublin. A number of people who had only heard that day through the media about this legislation turned up at that meeting very distressed. One of them told me that she had been on the housing list for the past 11 years and would go homeless rather than participate in the housing assistance payment scheme. My question to the Minister of State is what will she do if people refuse to participate in this inferior scheme because they will lose the many years they spent on housing waiting lists, which we all know do not really exist but meant that people at least had some prospect of getting a house whenever the Government got around to building some. What will happen to those people who refuse to participate in the HAP scheme?

I would also like to know who, under the HAP scheme, will be responsible for fixing the boiler, gate and so on, which work up to now has been the responsibility of the council. I have been asked by council workers to inquire of the Minister of State who will operate this scheme. Will work in this regard be outsourced, which in my view appears to be clearly on the agenda? I can foresee the use of cheap labour to oversee the operation of this scheme. Those involved will be acting as estate agents rather than dealing with people's housing needs.

Many serious questions arise in relation to RAS. I have been asked by people what will happen to the RAS scheme. Why is it stated in the proposal in respect of housing supply that 2,500 houses will be RAS properties? What is the point in RAS continuing when the new scheme comes into force? What will be the difference between the two scheme? Many people were opposed to the introduction of RAS. I was a member of a council at that time and I opposed its introduction. So much for the housing agencies defending council tenants.

Another aspect of the Bill to which little attention has been drawn is that of rent arrears deductions. There is no other group in society that can have rent or mortgage payments taken from their income. For example, the 100,000 people in mortgage arrears, for reasons which we all understand, are able to choose between buying food or paying their mortgage. Under this legislation council tenants will not be able to decide what bills and so on they can pay. Council tenants have been more under the cosh in the past six years than any other group yet this fundamental right is to be taken away from them. Members and former Members of this House have had their debts written down by the banks. Some have gone into bankruptcy. We all know that anybody can get into arrears, including the illustrious capitalist Denis O'Brien, who secured a write-off of €300,000.

All-in-all, it has now become clear what exactly is contained in this Bill. It is a sleight of hand to try to wipe out the nuisance of the housing waiting lists and to put people into insecure situations. It is incredible that unlike in the past people will not in future have the right to a permanent home in an area in which they can send their children to school - council houses are great, as are the areas in which they are located: the one I lived in was great - but will instead be shoved into the arms of private landlords.

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