Seán Fleming (Laois, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

This is a significant amendment from the Minister in that he will present a report to the Houses of the Oireachtas not later than 12 months after this section coming into operation, following consultation with the new regulator, which is welcome, the approved housing bodies and the housing authorities. The Minister will also arrange for the preparation of a report on the transfer of dwellings provided by the approved housing bodies etc. The Acting Chairman will be aware we discussed the issue of the approved housing bodies and the housing policy at the Committee of Public Accounts earlier this year and we issued the report in July 2019, before the legislation on the regulator was published. We called for such a regulator to be established and we are happy we are here now with the legislation.

There were two main points in the report and I want to read out one relevant paragraph of it.

I ask that the Minister considers changing the amendment before the regulator is established. Paragraph B44 of the July report of the Committee of Public Accounts outlined four statutory agencies, separate from the regulator that will now come into being, with relevant oversight for various aspects of AHBs. The first is the local authorities, which provide funding to the AHBs to ensure they meet the criteria to receive State funds. The second is the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB. Tenants in AHBs are entitled to tenancy rights, which are overseen by the RTB. The third is the Charities Regulator. All AHBs are charities, which requires them to meet certain criteria, including having a memorandum to provide social housing and a clause to prevent them from selling such property. The fourth is HIQA. AHBs involved in the provision of social housing for tenants with specific medical needs or disabilities come under HIQA to ensure that the property meets the needs of the tenant, which is probably what Deputy Ó Broin was referring to earlier in respect of special accommodation needs.

On the passing of the legislation, five State agencies will have oversight of AHBs, namely, the new regulator, the local authorities, the RTB, the Charities Regulator and HIQA, each of whose roles I have explained. In preparation of the report of the Minister proposed in the amendment, however, he will consult only the regulator, the AHBs and the relevant local authority, and not the RTB. The review is for tenants but the organisation that looks after tenants will not be included in it. As for the Charities Regulator, such bodies would not be AHBs unless they were approved charities and, therefore, it should be involved. Above all, for people with special accommodation needs, whom Deputy Ó Broin mentioned, HIQA has a specific role in legislation to ensure that accommodation meets the requirements of the tenant.

The Minister has omitted three important groups that, along with the Department, the regulator, the AHBs and the local authorities, should be involved in the review, namely, HIQA, the Charities Regulator and the RTB. Will he respond to what I consider to be an omission in respect of the review?

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