Dáil debates

Tuesday, 26 January 2016

Social Housing: Motion [Private Members]

 

9:20 pm

Photo of Maureen O'SullivanMaureen O'Sullivan (Dublin Central, Independent) | Oireachtas source

Many foreign national people who are seeking to access housing are being passed on to a different office, the new communities unit in the Department of Social Protection. If the homelessness figures do not include those foreign national people on the homeless list, then the numbers are being understated. There are concerns about this significant understatement of the figures because these people are not being included. Apart from the human and humanitarian aspect, there are also implications with regard to funding and resources. It has proved remarkably difficult in this House and at Dublin City Council level to get accurate figures on the problem.

Another point came to my attention recently. People are being recommended to a housing association for social housing by the local authority. I am perfectly in agreement with all of this. However, there are people who are being recommended to housing associations who are not suitable, mainly because they are in active addiction. If such a person got a particular flat or apartment, he or she could cause absolute havoc in the area. This means some of these flats and apartments are being left idle for long periods. Those in active addiction need a different type of housing with supports.

I am in touch with people on the housing list who are not on the homeless list but who are in private rented accommodation. They have been on the list for eight, nine, ten or 11 years. They could have availed of some of the units that housing associations have, accommodation that is going to people from the homeless list instead. However, people on the homeless list who are not suitable at a particular time are being nominated instead for the accommodation.

We know that rent is the key. I agree with not giving additional rent to landlords who are abusing the system by increasing rents simply because they can. Often, they do this for sub-standard accommodation. I have met constituents who are privately renting who have problems with their accommodation, such as a leak, a broken radiator, heating problems or cases in which the accommodation is in need of decoration, but who are in fear of asking the landlord in case there is a rent increase or even eviction. There is no security of tenure in those cases. The efforts on rent certainty backfired because we saw more increases and the numbers are increasing every day. The legislation should have come in earlier and should have been backdated or operational from an earlier date. Why was the figure 10% rather than 20% in view of the crisis? We need to see action on the commitment of €2.9 billion.

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