Seán Canney (Galway East, Independent) | Oireachtas source

With all of that investment, the Minister is proving the point I am making. I do not believe the local authorities are equipped to take this on. The other aspect is tenants’ behaviour and how the tenants are being managed. In Galway, I think we have four housing liaison officers in the entire county. We are increasing our stock of houses. I have seen first hand where houses built in the 1980s were demolished three years ago because they fell into disrepair. I see housing estates where standards have dropped in terms of the tenants’ ability to take responsibility. When something starts to happen, standards drop and then the estate becomes not a nice one to live in. This is happening whether we like it or not. As well as planned maintenance, we need planned management of the tenancies and people on the ground who can manage them and call to them so that, if any issues arise, whether relationships between neighbours, a broken window or whatever it is, they are nipped in the bud before it becomes a lower standard.

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