James Bannon (Fine Gael)

The Minister of State passed the buck when he stated that this issue would be the responsibility of local authorities and health boards. I agree with him and compliment the local authorities on the job they are doing. However, there has been a serious problem in recent years because of the embargo on recruitment of officers. Inspectors were not in place in many local authority areas, particularly the smaller ones. They had major financial problems and were short of funding for other important projects, such as roads, housing and so on.

Will the Minister of State guarantee that a new position of accommodation inspector will be created in every local authority? One can state that someone on a local authority will do this job, but it is not being done. A member of Longford County Council who resigned from Fianna Fáil has for three years called for people to be appointed as inspectors of rented accommodation. No one took on board his requests, queries or demands. Will the Minister of State indicate what personnel will be put in place to carry out such inspections given that the health boards are being wound up and I presume there will be a greater onus on local authorities to carry out such functions?