Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I heard Deputy Tóibín say it takes eight months for the local authority to turn around a house where he comes from. To make a point I have raised several times before, there are many houses, even in the Killarney electoral area, that have been void and vacant for four and five years. That is the gospel truth. I was made promises in this regard the year before last, last year and this year. Whatever is the matter, there are still several homes vacant and void, and no notice in the world is being taken of them. The neighbours are even complaining that vermin are going in and out of one of these houses and the briars are growing over the wall into their own place. This is not fair or right when people are looking for houses.

Another problem is that it is not possible to get contractors to turn these houses around. The Minister of State must accept that what the Department gives to turn around a house is €11,000, and if the house was done up in the last six years, it gives nothing. At the same time, if a house needs considerable work, that could cost up to €70,000 to go far enough to get the proper building energy rating, BER. The local authority has to foot this bill and it does not have the money. Maybe this is what is wrong. Some of these houses are going to take a lot of money to renovate. There is a problem that has not been sorted out and I do not think it is going to be sorted out given the way the system is.

On private renters, I have told the truth about the situation between Kenmare and Killarney. I gave a figure of about 55 houses that people will not rent out because the rental return they would get would be about €700 to €800 monthly. By the time they would pay the tax on that, they would only be left with only half that amount, maybe €350 or €400. That is one problem. It would not pay them to rent out these houses because they would have to pay for insurance, refurbishment or anything that might go wrong in the meantime.

There is a bigger issue, however. If people wanted to get a rented house back, it would be almost impossible to do so. The crowd the Government thinks is helping the situation, the RTB, is actually making the story way worse. I met a man from east Kerry in Killarney the other night. He told me he had finally got his house back and had sold it. He said he would have put up with everything but he would not put up with the RTB. That organisation must be looked at and scrutinised to see what it is doing. It is not being fair. It does not even help the people renting either, when it comes right down to it. It is not being fair and it is not helping the situation because it is not providing houses for people or providing a proper rent structure.

The system has been changed. We had the tenant purchase scheme previously but local authorities are now precluded from selling any house built since 2015 to the tenant. It is likewise with the voluntary housing associations. Tenants cannot purchase those houses. Back in time, when people got tenancy of a house from the county council, they always looked forward to purchasing the house down the road when they got enough money together and got their funding straightened out. People took a special pride in the house while they were renting it because it was in their minds that they would own it one day. They kept doing it up and kept it right. That incentive is not there anymore because the Government has changed the system. I do not approve of it. Many people are saying to me that they would prefer if they could own their house someday. The money these people would use to pay for the house and to buy it out would be going into the coffers again. Kerry County Council used to use that money to do up voids, which kept the cycle kicking over all the time. We did not have voids like that in the past.

I cannot understand why we should have them now. We should not because there are people looking for them. There is no homeless centre in Killarney. Yet, we are housing people from all over the world in hotels, guesthouses and what have you. Our own people who become homeless in Killarney have to go to Tralee, to the Whitehouse. That is the gospel truth. That is what is happening in Killarney. People are very upset in Killarney at the present time.

The income cap is an issue. Deputy Fitzpatrick described a situation whereby a person's income was not enough to obtain a mortgage but it was too high for them to be on the local authority housing list. A fellow came in to me the other evening. He is bringing home €880, outside of tax. What he was offered by a bank by way of a mortgage facility was €96,000. Where is he going? Any house, even those that are not right, costs €200,000. He has not a hope of buying a house. At the same time, he cannot go on the local authority housing list. He has a partner and a little girl and would like to do something about a house, but they are up against it. I hope the Minister of State can understand the concern I have for those people.

The HAP scheme is so intricate and involved that any landlord who would like to rent a house says, when asked whether they will take HAP, there is no way in the world they will. They will not have it. There are too many restrictions and things go on for two or three months. It does not help those looking to rent a house or the man who owns the house.

Planning is now almost impossible to obtain in Kerry. People, even family members and farmers, cannot access national roads. Many are still waiting and hoping that something will change and they can build a house and come out onto the roads where they have always come out. People are staying at their parents, but they want to have their own homes with their partners and children. Other areas are deemed to be under what is known as severe restricted urban pressure. A farmer will get permission. A young fellow living beside him who does not have land could buy a site but will not get planning permission for a house. He could be from the very same place. Even ten miles east of Killarney, that is the situation.

There are large tracts around every town for which people cannot get planning. They are asking us for nothing. They will pay for the house, whether that involves getting a mortgage, getting money or working for it, and put it together, but they cannot get planning in their own place. That is a very serious issue.

I did not see the programme on television last night, but what is happening is very wrong. We are paying An Taisce and other environmental groups. We are funding them and they can obtain the best barristers and legal advice to prevent ordinary people from getting planning. That is not fair. That is happening. I see the Minister shaking his head, but it is happening. They have the funds to keep objections going and have many things stopped. The taxpayer is funding them to do just that and to keep them going. It is very unfair. I ask the Minister to listen to the things I have said. I have made nothing up. It is the gospel truth of what is happening in Kerry. We have serious problems there which can be addressed if you go to the bother of doing it.

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