Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)

I thought the Taoiseach's comments on this issue on Tuesday were deeply disappointing. Talking about a "dependency culture" and local authorities asking for "handouts" misunderstands the problem. There are three issues I urge the Minister to take into account when looking at the delays in casual re-lets. The first is the amount of funding per unit is not sufficient in many cases, especially when the stock has been lived in for a lengthy period. The second is the time it is taking local authorities to receive approval from the Department is too long. I talk to local authority officials and it can be six months before they get approval. The third issue is procurement rules are too rigid. Anything that will speed this process up we will support but the Minister cannot blame the local authorities as there is a lot that is directly related to the him, his funding allocations and his departmental rules and that needs to change as well.

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