Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank my colleague, Teachta Tully, for her assistance with the Bill, which is timely. We had a recent discussion about response times from county councils to various representations from elected members. Indeed, there is currently a ten- to 12-week waiting period to get on the housing list in Kildare. Let me be clear: I do not blame the staff or the officials. They are being let down by the Government too. Yesterday, at the monthly meeting of Kildare County Council, a number of councillors received unfavourable reports from officials in response to their motions. It was not that the officials disagreed with the motions themselves. Their answers were due to a lack of resources and, in particular, staff. We need to invest in local government if we are to have true local democracy. We have a form of local administration at the moment and not local government.

As the Sinn Féin spokesperson for older people, I have been contacted by many people from all over the country who have experienced delays of many months in receiving a reply to their applications. I recently helped to bring to a successful conclusion to two applications that were ongoing for more than two years. These kinds of delays are unacceptable. At yesterday's council meeting in Kildare, a motion was tabled by Councillor Nuala Killeen, which sought an increased budget for housing adaptation grants. The report from the directors of housing and finance stated that the additional costs associated with the councillor's request would take €200,000 from other areas of expenditure. It went on to state that without additional funding from central government, it is not expected that Kildare County Council can achieve this without cutting front-line services. The reality is that people are waiting far too long, with priority 2 and 3 applicants not even receiving a reply, in some cases after months of waiting. They deserve a better quality of life and this Bill is the first step to achieving it.

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