Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I know. That is reassuring but it does not solve the problem, unfortunately.

I will revert to a couple of things that need to be looked at. First, it is proposed to revise the income thresholds and ceilings for qualification for what I call a local authority house. It is long past the time for that. For example, in my constituency of Kildare North, €37,500 is the upper limit for a couple with one child, currently living in rental accommodation costing €1,200 or €1,400 per month. The Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows as well as I do that this is expecting people to create savings and to hang on in that particular situation, as they see it, forever. They worry and fret about it on a daily basis. They know the difficulties at present. They would love to and are willing to buy a house, but they cannot because they will not be able to accumulate a deposit. If their parents give them the deposit, it is considered contribution to the inflation, which of course it is. However, the fact of the matter is that they are willing. We need to ensure that those who have been in rented accommodation for a period of time should get credit by way of a reduction of the deposit they require. It is a reasonable thing to do and it is possible. Do not forget that when the old Housing Finance Agency was first introduced, eventually, the deposit was nil, £150 or £200, as it was the time. It worked perfectly, because the person got a house instantly. They were able to buy their house. There was the grant and that was the deposit then. They then got into their home. They were able to work to keep their own home. That incentive was there. That is one thing I would do. I would strongly urge that it would be taken into account.

The other thing that should be taken into account relates to the person who wishes to buy a home. I want to be clear about this. There is a great deal of confusion between the role of a local authority, which is a housing authority, and a bank, which is a financial institution. The two are not the same. Their responsibilities are not the same. The housing authority has the responsibility for meeting the housing needs of the population, as they as they present themselves to them. A bank or a lending institution has only one thing to do. That is to lend on the basis of the criteria pertaining to the loans, the availability of loans, and so on.

Unfortunately, the two issues have merged in recent years. That was caused by the fact that a local authority would only consider a person's application for a loan if he or she had failed to get a loan from a bank. What a stupid situation that was. I cannot understand why that criterion was ever introduced because it clearly put the onus on local authorities to take the people carrying the big risk while the banks would take the others. It was absolutely crazy. I ask that an instruction be given to the local authorities to the effect that they are housing authorities. A housing authority carries different responsibilities altogether. Trying to assess the eligibility for a person's entitlement to housing on the basis of savings or such is not part of a local authority's problem, and should not be. That practice should be discontinued as soon as possible.

Previous speakers referred to HAP. I would like about an hour to talk about HAP at some stage in the future, if the Leas-Cheann Comhairle could arrange that.

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