John Carty (Fianna Fail)

I welcome my former colleague in the other House, the Minister of State at the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Deputy Michael Finneran, to his former haunt. I understand this is his first engagement in the House since his appointment. I am sorry he did not hold his current portfolio when I was a Deputy because a substantial amount of housing was built in County Mayo in conjunction with Clúid, CLÁR IRD, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and other voluntary bodies. I have a couple of other projects lined up and I have no doubt the Minister of State will look after me during his term of office.

I welcome the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008 as it will improve housing services and their delivery by giving effect to the programme of social housing reform measures outlined in the policy document, Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities, published in February 2007. In terms of how social housing is delivered, sections 4 and 5 give the Minister new powers enabling him to issue policy directions with which housing authorities must comply and guidelines to which housing authorities must have regard. I welcome this measure as it will give strong policy direction to local authorities. Mayo County Council, my local authority, does a good job in performing its housing functions and the new provisions will strengthen its hand. Sections 14 to 18, inclusive, provide new powers for elected members to make service housing plans for the delivery of services in their areas.

I once chaired the housing strategic policy committee of Mayo County Council. One group of people, male spouses who had to leave the family home in cases of marital breakdown, often came to our attention. While it is correct that female spouses and children should remain in the family home in the event of marital breakdown, many men leave home, often in fairly bad circumstances, and move into towns where accommodation such as single rooms is in poor condition. Local authority schemes should include apartments of one or two rooms specifically for the purpose of accommodating men in this category because many of them are unable to improve their lot due to personal circumstances and the accommodation in which they are living. In some towns, only the worst accommodation is available to them and many of them have a social disability.