Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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I wish to discuss housing maintenance, in particular the impact of mould and damp on tenants of social housing in my constituency and throughout the country. It is an area I have worked in for almost two decades in an academic capacity doing research on the impact of mould and damp on residents and tenants and working with communities. Mould and damp are endemic across social housing in this city and the country. There is a systemic failure to provide people, particularly families, children and vulnerable people, with housing of a decent standard. A basic human right to housing includes at its core the right to adequate housing, which means housing does not have defects that impact health. The World Health Organization outlines clearly that mould and damp have major impacts on health, through asthma for example, and on other areas, even mental health.

There appears to be no urgency, transparency or accountability. Worst of all, no empathy is shown in how tenants are responded to as regards voids and housing maintenance. We need to go back to what worked, namely, in-house maintenance teams in local authorities. They were the backbone of housing upkeep. They could turn homes around quickly but they were decimated during the Celtic tiger period and again during austerity. I spoke to a man called Craig who contacted my office. He has lived in Ballymun all his life. He started working when he was 15. After experiencing homelessness, he finally secured a local authority home, which was a chance to rebuild and recover. That home has become a nightmare for Craig and his mother. Mould is destroying his clothes, bed linen and belongings. It covers the walls and ceilings. He is only 23 but now he cannot work because of the health impacts of living in these conditions, which include congestion, facial pain, headaches and disrupted sleep. His doctor had to write to Dublin City Council, pleading for action. Is this what social housing looks like in a wealthy republic? If Craig gives up and leaves that home, how long will it sit empty before it is restored and made habitable? Will it be weeks, months, a year?

This is just one of many cases. Another case that came to the attention of my office is that of an older resident of Ballymun in her seventies who is experiencing a distressing housing situation. Her home is also filled with mould and destroyed with damp. She is 71 and has her own health issues. This impacts her physical and mental health. She contacted the council and was told it would be eight or nine weeks before someone would be able to come out and even look at the property. How can older residents be subjected to this unacceptable wait time?

I also raise the issue of Cromcastle Court. It is now so dilapidated that residents wonder if it is already vacant and why has it taken ten years for regeneration. Similar estates across the city include Dolphin House, Pearse House and others. In my constituency in Finglas there are major issues with mould and damp. How long will tenants be left living in substandard accommodation that impacts their physical and mental health? We need more action and support for local authorities.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I thank Deputy Hearne for raising this matter. I assure him the Minister and I and our Department take it very seriously. It is important to note there are just over 150,000 local authority-owned social properties in this State, which have an estimated market value of more than €25 billion. The proper management and maintenance of this valuable State asset is a very important matter. Of equal importance is the requirement that local authority tenants occupying those properties and paying their weekly rent live in homes that provide good comfort levels for their occupants.

In accordance with section 58 of the Housing Act 1966, local authorities are legally responsible for the management and maintenance of their housing stock, including pre-letting repairs to vacant properties, implementation of a planned maintenance programme and carrying out of responsive repairs. Local authorities also have a legal obligation to ensure that all of their tenanted properties are compliant with the provisions of the rental standard regulations 2019. Notwithstanding the legal obligation on local authorities to manage and maintain their own stock, the Department of housing provides annual funding support to local authorities for management and maintenance under a number of grant programmes such as the planned maintenance, or voids, programme, the energy efficiency retrofit programme and the disabled person grants programme, with the selection of homes and nature and priority of works for inclusion in the programmes a matter for the local authority.

From 2013 until the end of 2024, Exchequer funding of more than €59 million was provided to support local authority work in this area. Furthermore, funding is available under the regeneration programme. This funding will support ongoing projects, with a focus on building new homes as well as the refurbishment and rebuilding of some of the oldest flat complexes in Dublin city and local authority estates in various parts of the country. For 2025, €50 million has been made available under this programme.

As is the case across all of our housing stock, local authorities continue to receive and address repair requests in a standard manner. Furthermore, the Department of housing will continue to support local authorities in their work in this area. In particular, I note all 31 of the local authorities are now live on the new asset management ICT system, which provides the ability to carry out and gather the data on stock condition surveys which will inform future work programmes. To that end, €10.1 million has been ring-fenced to support these surveys and subsequent works arising.

In addition, I want to see best practice adopted with regard to the turning around and re-letting of council properties. This is a matter which the Deputy rightly raises and I have addressed on the floor of the House previously. It certainly should not be the case that it takes some local authorities up to a year to re-let a property, while others can turn a property around in between 12 and 14 weeks. That is an issue I interrogate when I visit local authorities. Contrary to the comments the Deputy made on the in-house teams, which are important for the ongoing maintenance work, the National Oversight and Audit Commission, NOAC, indicator reports show that local authorities that have put frameworks in place to enable the quick turnaround of properties are able to turn properties around much quicker.

The Department is open to suggestions. We need to see properties turned around and re-let and they need to be of good quality and to a good standard for tenants.

Rory Hearne (Dublin North-West, Social Democrats)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response and engagement on this matter. To iterate the scale of this crisis of mould, damp and poor conditions, it was seven years ago that the European Committee of Social Rights found the Irish State to be in violation of human rights and failing to take sufficient and timely measures to ensure the right to housing of an adequate standard for families living in local authorities housing. Seven years ago, the committee found against Ireland on the basis of the presence of sewage, contaminated water, dampness and persistent mould and it raised serious concerns about habitability. It noted in particular the high number of residents in certain estates in Dublin complaining of sewage invasions and issues of dampness and mould.

This is not acceptable. We have to look at what the structural problem is here. Why are local authorities unable to respond in the way they should be able to? We need to go back to in-house maintenance. Local authorities need the funding and resources to systematically and quickly respond to these issues. Children are growing up in social housing in this country whose lives are being damaged by mould and damp. It impacts their education, mental health and life chances. It is a breach of their human rights. We are breaching the rights of children who are growing up in social housing because of the State's failure to act. This is the State's responsibility; that is one of the most frustrating aspects of this issue. These people are tenants of this State. The State, which is the landlord, should be leading on responses and treating tenants of social housing with dignity and respect. That has to change from the top down and local authorities have to change as well.

John Cummins (Waterford, Fine Gael)
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I reiterate that it is important that local authority tenants who are paying weekly rents are provided with good quality and good comfort levels in their homes. No one will hear me disagreeing with that. It is set down in the rental standard regulations of 2019. Local authorities are obliged to provide that for their tenants. I have also set out what the Government is doing in providing funding to local authorities to assist them. Under the planned maintenance and voids programme, €31 million is available this year. Under the energy efficiency retrofit programme, €90 million is available. Under the disabled persons grants, a further €25 million is available. Within the regeneration programme, I mentioned €50 million being provided. This funding is expected to provide for upgrade works to more than 6,200 local authority homes this year.

The Department is working with the local authority sector, through the Local Government Management Agency, LGMA, to drive a planned maintenance approach so that we can target local authority homes. There will be stock condition surveys carried out on all 150,000 social homes as part of that programme. The Department will continue to provide local authorities with funding support, including through the schemes I mentioned. It is important to note that local authorities have to move to a position whereby all the rents they are collecting from tenants are ploughed back into the maintenance and upkeep of properties because they receive a significant rent roll.

The Government is working with local authorities to ensure we have proper, adequate and comfortable homes for tenants.