Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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I will illustrate the point I wish to make to the Minister of State by using an example from my constituency. I will talk to him about a lady who I will call her Janet because I do not want to say her name. In 2010, Janet joined the Dublin City Council housing list. She was eligible for social housing at that stage. I will not get all political about the reason we have a housing crisis. The Minister of State will well know that and, I assume, will take some responsibility for it. In 2015, Janet was viciously assaulted. When I say viciously, I mean that the woman nearly died. She will bear the scars of that for the rest of her life. Her former partner was rightly sent to prison for a long time and she left the area where they had been living. That area is in Dublin city. She went as far away as she could, which was up to north County Dublin, and she settled there with her children. She is safe and secure in north County Dublin. Her children are in school there and she works there. All her support structures are in north County Dublin and she has absolutely no wish to go back to Dublin city. She does, however, need secure, permanent housing, which she cannot get in the private rented market, and she is renting privately at the moment.

Due to the amount of time that has passed, Janet now finds herself about to be offered a house because she is at the very top of the list. She has waited 14 to 15 years. However, can the Minister of State imagine that a woman with children who wants a secure house will be offered one and will have to turn it down because she would have to move back? Her abuser is now out of prison and living in that area. I have submitted letters from An Garda Síochána which will prove that this woman cannot safely go back to where she was originally on the housing list. She feels safe where she is at the moment, and that is incredibly important. I am sure the Minister of State will appreciate that. I understand exactly how the queuing system goes, and God knows I know people have to wait. Janet knows that too; however, she has waited 15 years. There is a need for somebody in a position of authority to look at this case for what it is. It is a unique case. I have not come across many, if any, cases like it and I have been nine years in this job. I operate a lot of clinics and see many people. It is a very unusual situation. This woman is at the end of her rope because she is about to be offered a house but she will have no choice but to refuse it because, on the advice of An Garda Síochána, she cannot move back to where she lived previously.

One of her choices is precarious renting. If she changes to the Fingal County Council housing list, she will lose those 15 years she had, which is really unfair, and in my constituency, in Fingal County Council, although they may deny it, you wait 14 years. That would give her a total of 29 years. All she is doing is trying to keep her kids safe, trying to keep herself safe and trying to work in, live in and contribute to the community where she feels safe. She does not want to skip any queue but she does want - and I think she deserves - some form of recognition for the length of time she has been on the housing list. The person who assaulted her is still a threat to her. The Garda has told her not to go back to where she was. If she refuses a second offer of a house, she will be suspended from the housing list for a year. If she transfers to the Fingal County Council list, she will lose the 15 years spent on the Dublin City Council list. I understand how the lists work and the Minister of State understands how the lists work. I understand that there has to be fairness. I suppose I am looking for special treatment because this is a very special case. I do not often come to the floor of the Dáil to argue for individual cases; it is usually more general issues. However, I have been everywhere with this and I am just asking somebody in the Department of housing to please examine this case and work with me to try to get some resolution for a person who has done nothing wrong at all yet who will find herself in an impossible situation.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I can tell that she has a very personal interest in this, and that speaks to the person she is. I thank her for tabling the matter. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for housing.

The response to domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is a cross-departmental and multi-agency issue, with overall policy co-ordinated by the Department of Justice. Responsibility for the development and provision of services to support victims rests with my colleague the Minister for Justice, working in conjunction with Cuan, the statutory domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency under the remit of the Department of Justice.

As regards the waiting list for social housing, it is not possible for a household previously on one social housing waiting list to carry the time spent on that list when applying to another local authority. However, local authorities may provide for exceptional or emergency cases to qualified households, allowing immediate housing outside of normal waiting list priorities, including cases of domestic violence. They may also reserve a certain proportion of dwellings for, among other things, allocation to particular categories of households, particular forms of tenure, and households transferring from other forms of social housing support.

Decisions on the allocation of social housing support are a matter solely for the local authority concerned. I know the Deputy knows that. In fairness, she has made that very clear and she is just looking for a little understanding in highlighting the case here. I have to outline the rules and she knows them. I think we both agree that a methodology needs to be found here to assist in an exceptional case like this. Each application must be considered on its own merits and the individual circumstances taken into account. Local authorities will prioritise allocations to those households they consider to be most in need, which can include victims of domestic violence.

In June 2022, the Department of Justice published Zero Tolerance: Third National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual & Gender-Based Violence 2022-2026, which is a cross-departmental and multi-agency plan with overall policy co-ordinated by the Department of Justice. As an action in this strategy, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage committed to a review of the 2017 policy and procedural guidance for housing authorities in relation to assisting victims of domestic violence with emergency and long-term accommodation needs in order to ensure continuing effectiveness and consistency in responses to assist victims of domestic violence. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is engaging with Cuan, the domestic, sexual and gender-based violence agency, on this review and proposed recommendations arising from the review.

I will forward the Deputy's comments to the Minister. It might be worth her while feeding into that strategy as well as a direct response. However, it is clear from the response I have given that there is flexibility in the local authority. Nobody has the capacity to direct from central government a local authority to do anything other than what the guidelines say, but there is flexibility there. I will talk to the Minister and if any kind of enhanced case can be made to assist the Deputy, it is something we can talk about at a later time.

Louise O'Reilly (Dublin Fingal West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response. He referred to zero tolerance, but it does not look like zero tolerance because this man can live wherever he bloody well likes and Janet is stuck. I wish the Minister of State could meet this woman because all she has done is work hard. Through no fault of her own, she finds herself in a situation where she could be waiting 30 years to get permanent housing. She does not earn enough to buy a house, but that should not mean that she does not have somewhere secure to live. The Minister of State says two things in the reply. He says, "As regards the waiting list for social housing, it is not possible for a household previously on one social housing ... list to carry the time spent ...". He can see that this is clearly what I am asking. I am asking that some accommodation be made. The local authority does not feel like it has the latitude. I know that exceptions can be made. I understand how awful it is for people on housing lists and I never come in here to plead a personal case for someone. I am doing it simply because it really does not feel to me like the local authority believes it has the scope to look at this separately and to offer a little latitude. I know the people who work hard in Fingal County Council. They are good people and they want to do right by this but they clearly do not feel like they have the wherewithal to do it. I will absolutely feed into the strategy, but perhaps if there were a signal from the Custom House, that might encourage them.

I reiterate that I deal with cases all the time.

The Minister of State does; we all do. We tell people that is the way it is and they have to wait. If the Minister of State could meet this person, she has done nothing wrong and it feels like she is being punished. He can live where he damn well pleases. She is the victim yet she is the one who feels like she is being punished.

I thank the Minister of State for his reply. I will send on the details to him. I hope somebody can take a look at this.

Timmy Dooley (Clare, Fianna Fail)
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I have known the Deputy for a long time. I am aware of the sincerity she brings to the issue. This is not the usual banter that goes on in here. I will meet the woman in question with the Deputy at a time to be decided next week, if we can. I will talk to the officials in the Department to see if a signal can be sent that these are exceptional circumstances. The reply provided to me indicates that there is flexibility and that local authorities can seek to prioritise allocations to households they consider to be most in need, which can include the victims of domestic violence. That is on the record, if that provides some comfort to officials. I have dealt with similar cases. Officials are afraid to break the seal because it may set a precedent that makes it more difficult for them to do their job.

The Deputy presented plenty of evidence to support her case. This was not a minor skirmish; somebody ended up in jail as a result of the violence that was perpetrated. There is clearly a belief on the part of the Garda that there is still a threat. It may be about producing some evidence of exceptional circumstances that will work for the local authority involved. I also have to be clear that the local authority has ultimate responsibility and is not at the behest of central government or the Department in discharging its fundamental duties. We must be careful that we do not grey out those lines. Let use see if we can progress the matter as best we can.