Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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Lá le Bríde faoi mhaise daoibh freisin. This is my day, so I hope I have success with this topic. I know which Minister is taking this matter. I will use photographs and hand them to him when I am leaving. What I am looking at here is the age old question of mould and damp in local authority housing, and I want to remind the House that in 2015 a landmark collective complaint against Ireland from across 20 local authority estates was taken to the European Court of Justice. In 2017, the court found Ireland guilty and insisted that there must be rapid and immediate changes made to local authority houses.

As late as last night, I visited Emmet Buildings in Dublin 8 and I also recently visited Oliver Bond flats. To say that people are living in disgracefully damp and mouldy conditions is probably an understatement. That is why I want to hand the Minister of State these photographs. They are incredible. I happened to be with a local school teacher who teaches in St. Brigid's National School in the Coombe. She mentioned to me the level of absenteeism and children being unable to attend school because of the impact that mould and damp has on their health. I have statements here from the World Health Organization and the National Health Service, two authorities that are looking at the question of mould and damp in local authority accommodation. This is poor accommodation that is impacting on respiratory health, the health of the skin, the health of children in particular but also the health of elderly people. The loss of time out of school should be enough to wake this Government up to the fact that these issues need to be dealt with in a timely fashion.

It is five years, maybe going on for six years, since the European Court of Justice ruled on this matter and very little has changed for these tenants. There are immediate solutions. They need better ventilation and new windows. Most of these flats still have single-glazed windows. They also need a retrofitting programme. However, at a minimum they need new windows and improved ventilation should be available to all of these local authority tenants. When we ask Dublin City Council what it is going to do about this issue this is the response. I have a question here to the chief executive in which I asked if there is climate action funding available.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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When was the letter sent?

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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It was sent on 17 January. I asked if there was funding available in terms of climate action targets and for health and safety in these flat complexes. I asked what the council could do about them. The council stated that there is no specific Government fund available for window replacement and if additional funding becomes available, it can add more projects to the list. That is just not good enough. Funding needs to be made available, at least through actions to meet climate targets, to deal with this issue. There is a whole plethora of other issues to do with living in these complexes in the inner city. By the way, they are beautiful buildings, designed by Herbert George Simms. They would have won prizes back in the day. However, there have been hints from the council that these flats might go to the Land Development Agency. The LDA would love to flatten them because Emmet Buildings is surrounded by 12- and 14-storey high-rise vulture fund built accommodation. These are either aparthotels, student accommodation or very expensive apartments. More are planned.

It is not right to treat communities like this. They are the heart of the city. Hundred of families are living in these conditions and although regeneration is promised, it takes far too long to deal with fundamental and basic health problems that these people face daily. What I want to tease out today is what the Government is going to do to insist that local authorities step up to the mark and deliver health and safety to people in their dwellings.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Smith for raising this important issue. In accordance with section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, local authorities are legally responsible for the management and maintenance of their housing stock. They also have a legal obligation to ensure that all of their tenanted properties are compliant with the provisions of the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. Minimum standard for rental accommodation are prescribed in the regulations and focus on tenants’ safety. They specify the exact requirements in respect of a range of matters such as ventilation, structural repair and fire safety and ventilation, which has been specifically referred to by the Deputy. They also include sanitary facilities, heating and the safety of gas, oil and electrical installations. These regulations apply to all properties let or available for let, including social housing. All landlords, including local authorities, have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with the standards set down in the regulations.

Local authorities take cases of mould very seriously. Some 81% of Dublin City Council’s social housing units were built before the introduction of the building regulations in 1991. The Deputy referred to the fact that many of these are older buildings. Dwellings constructed prior to 1960 tend to have solid walls which are not very good at retaining heat. Dublin City Council is very keen to work closely with their tenants in helping to combat mould issues. In recent years, the council has carried out various works to help eliminate condensation. Phase 1 of its energy efficiency programme, with funding from my Department, saw 8,057 units upgraded with cavity walls and attics insulated. In phase 2, a further 1,110 units had their facades wrapped and windows upgraded. Some 80% of the council stock has been upgraded by the end of 2022.

The council voids programme, also supported by Department funding, saw 772 voids upgraded in 2022 to the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019. A housing condensation group was created by the council in 2017 which has carried out over 20,000 conditional surveys and damp reports on 2,500 units. Of these 2,500 units, mechanical ventilation has been installed in 1,300, which is just over 50% of them.

Responsibility for the enforcement of regulations in the private rental sector, including approved housing bodies' properties, rests with the relevant local authority.

The Deputy referred to Emmet Buildings and Oliver Bond flats. This is a matter which can be taken up with Dublin City Council to ensure that it goes out to visit the places and the residents spoken about by the Deputy. We cannot have children absent from school, as referred to by her.

The Government is committed to ensuring that a high quality stock of rental accommodation is available for households who rent, be it in the private market or in accommodation provided directly by local authorities.

Notwithstanding the legal obligations on local authorities to manage and maintain their housing stock, my Department provides annual funding to local authorities in a focused way to support their work in this area, mainly via the disabled persons grant scheme and the aforementioned energy efficiency retrofitting and voids programmes.

My Department will continue to support local authorities in these focused stock improvement works and work is also ongoing with the local authority sector, through the City and County Management Association, CCMA, to drive a planned maintenance approach to the management and maintenance of all local authority housing stock. Local authorities are entrusted with providing high quality housing stock to social housing tenants.

The Department is funding the development of a national asset management system for the sector that should greatly assist the sector in this task.

There is a rental standing committee up and running in my Department with a number of local authorities. It looks at rental properties, and the Department and councils deal with properties. Dublin City Council is a member of that standing committee. It met in January and is due to meet again in early March. I will take up the matters raised by the Deputy specifically in respect of the tenants in Emmet Buildings and Oliver Bond flats me with my Department and will make direct contact with Dublin City Council.

Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance)
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I thank the Minister of State and I could say that I am very encouraged by that answer but I am not. I repeat that it is six years ago since the European court ruled against this State for the way in which local authority tenants are treated and the conditions in which they have to live, specifically around damp and mould, sewage and other problems.

When one goes into one of these estates, the problems run deeper. There is rat infestation and playgrounds are not updated and are slippy and dangerous for children. In the case of Emmet Buildings, there is no proper emergency access for ambulances or fire brigades. There is a huge amount of absolute negligence.

The fact that Ireland was found to be guilty on the damp and mould issue is the issue I want to focus on here. I have asked the Minister of State a question which he has not addressed. Can we ensure that at least under climate action, funding is made available to upgrade all of the windows in these houses? One does not have to de-tenant the place to do that or to enter into a big urban regeneration project that lasts for a decade. One just gets the stock and puts in double- or triple-glazed windows in every single flat. This would make a huge difference to the quality of life and the level of mould and damp. To state the obvious, it would help to improve people's income in a cost-of-living crisis where they are paying a fortune to keep their flats warm. That is one specific question I would ask the Minister of State to address, namely, to try to get climate funding to deal with this issue of the windows and to ensure that proper ventilation is installed in every apartment.

Beyond that, if the Minister of State is meeting Dublin City Council, it also has to deal with rat infestation in many of these blocks. Some of this happens because buildings are being erected all around them, but this issue is not being dealt with. There are no responses that are worth a damn. People, very decent families and communities, are living with this day in, day out, children are missing school and health levels are very low.

Kieran O'Donnell (Limerick City, Fine Gael)
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On the specific issue raised by the Deputy, Dublin City Council has received State funding. In respect of the energy efficiency schemes in phase 1, with funding from my Department, it saw 8,057 housing units upgraded with cavity walls and attic insulation. In phase 2, a further 1,110 units had their facades wrapped and windows upgraded. Some 80% of the council housing had been upgraded by the end of 2022.

This is a matter that we will take up with Dublin City Council but these are the facts. If there are particular instances in particular buildings where, to date, that has not happened, obviously that is a matter for Dublin City Council. It is a matter we will take up with them and we will look at what funding is required. These are the facts as presented from Dublin City Council. State funding is being provided in the areas spoken about by the Deputy but it is a question of whether there are still buildings to be dealt with in that regard. The Deputy mentioned two buildings, Emmet Buildings and Oliver Bond flats, and we will take up the matter with Dublin City Council but to say that there is no State funding being provided for this area is not the case as there is.