Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State's response to the proposed amendment was that she had ministerial power to ensure local authorities allowed for those on transfer lists to retain the option of obtaining a housing unit from the local authority. I do not doubt the Minister of State's bona fides and good intentions in that regard. However, like my colleagues and others, I fear that this is not enough. To quote a colleague of hers, we cannot expect her to micromanage each local authority on a regular basis to ascertain how its housing list is being managed and applicants are being dealt with if they are in the HAP system. That being the case, it is only right and proper and a fair proposal in the amendment that it be enshrined in legislation, that it would be in order for all local authorities to have such a list, with certain criteria attached, in order that we will not have the haphazard approach we have seen throughout the country.

The different fiefdoms that exist in various counties are such that transfer lists are as good as irrelevant in most if not all counties. That being the case, the amendment and the support we have received for it from across the House show that there is a means and a method in our intentions. I ask the Minister of State to take it on board and insert into the Bill a provision so that her good intentions, bona fides and agreement with us in that regard are set down in legislation. We would then have no problem and would be able to assure people that there is no fear of retribution if they take up this scheme. I have seen examples in my constituency in which people who have not gone on the RAS scheme for whatever reason - and there are very good reasons not to accept the RAS scheme - have been penalised and lost points in their efforts to obtain a housing unit through other more appropriate means or means to which we have been accustomed.

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