Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I would have thought the violation was plain and obvious. That being the case, what timeframe has the Government put in place to address this issue? For example, is the Minister considering establishing an independent complaints commission whereby local authority tenants will have access to independent assessment of their complaint regarding violation? Many local authorities are placed in an unfortunate predicament because they do not have the funding available to them to address many of these issues. What budgetary measures has the Minister taken or will he take in light of this in order for this issue to be addressed? It is bad enough to try to deal with the failure to meet the targets for the provision of social housing. We now have this issue on the table which needs to be addressed. We need to hear from Government a clear pathway as to how it might be addressed, the way it is being dealt with and a copy of the Minister's response to the European charter.

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