Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I should have said on the record that I am a landlord but I have not issued any notices to quit. Will the Minister of State clarify whether local authorities, once they meet the ceiling, need to come to the Department on a case-by-case basis for approval? Has guidance been issued by the Department about whether, where there is a link between the landlord and tenant regarding a family relationship, the local authorities cannot purchase that property?

Flexibility is required. I am aware of a family in which there was a marital breakdown. The husband is gone and the court issued an order to sell the property, which is effectively a notice to quit. There are three children, two of whom have autism. The mother is a full-time carer. She has been approved to join the housing list but the local authority said it is unable to purchase that house. That is wrong. It is her home and that of her children. She is effectively on a notice to quit, not from a landlord but due to the court order to sell the property. Flexibility would be welcome in schemes like this.

See this speech in context