Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

While I find it hard to disagree with the Minister of State, in this case I must. I do not accept the local authorities could refuse nearly two thirds of the houses that had been identified as potential social housing properties by NAMA between December 2011 and December 2015 and that the agency would sell them off to the private sector, which snapped them up. I am not satisfied the reasons given by the local authorities are adequate. I note 1,130 were recorded in the category "no demand" according to the local authorities. What does "no demand" mean? There is huge demand for housing. A further 1,275 units were recorded in the category "no sustainable communities" or, in other words, there were too many units on offer. How does one determine there are too many units on offer when one has a housing crisis? The local authorities decided not to take them. A total of 84 units were recorded as not suitable, albeit not because it was not financially viable for them to be acquired or leased. The local authorities did not wish to get into the business of management but I do not accept that reason either. A further 1,579 units, which is the largest category, were recorded as being no longer available. Of course they no longer are available, as four years went by and NAMA will not wait forever. The receiver has a duty to sell or the owner will sell if the local authorities do not act in time. This is an extremely flimsy argument on the part of the local authorities. They literally have reneged on their responsibility as the housing authorities in Ireland. Had those additional 4,000-plus units come into circulation despite the aforementioned categories, the housing crisis could have been dealt with much more effectively. I must state that a more thorough and more detailed explanation is required from the local authorities as to why they turned down these units. There are 31 local authorities, some of which turned everything down. Others, such as Dublin City Council, rejected two thirds of them but the current position is that local authorities are trying to find as many units of accommodation as they can, anywhere, to try to house families that are homeless or are in severe need of housing.

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