Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)

I thank Members for their kind words on my return to the House, after having spent so many years here. I also thank Senators for their contribution to the debate on Second Stage, for their attendance during the debate and for their supportive comments on the legislation. The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008 is a milestone in the development of housing policy, not only in terms of the enhancement of the legislation code, but also in advancing the reform programme set out in Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities. The Bill will radically improve the capacity of housing authorities to plan and deliver their services in a coherent, flexible and responsive manner. It will improve customer choice with the inclusion of the new rental accommodation scheme and the incremental purchase scheme. It will strengthen the powers of housing authorities as social housing landlords and enablers of social housing provision.

The contributions of Senators touched on a wide range of issues and I will endeavour to deal with as many of them as I can, as time allows. Several Senators raised the issue of homelessness and the Government strategy, The Way Home. This new Government strategy on homelessness, which I launched in August, sets out a clear vision for the future where the occurrence of homelessness is minimised. Where it does arise, nobody will sleep rough or remain for more than six months in emergency accommodation. This is very important. When I launched the strategy I explained that there were people in emergency accommodation for up to eight years. As Minister of State with responsibility for housing, I was no longer prepared to accept this and I have set out a programme whereby we will not have people in emergency accommodation for more than six months.

Substantial legislative change is not required to implement this. The matter has been raised but we do not need new legislation. Housing authorities already have the power to provide emergency services for homeless people by virtue of the Housing Act 1998. This is one of a range of housing supports provided by authorities referred to in section 10. More permanent solutions to the accommodation needs of homeless people are encompassed in the various forms of social housing support described in section 19.

I am satisfied that the current statutory definition of homelessness in the Housing Act 1998 is sufficient. We carried out a review of the definition for operational purposes. Furthermore, in the context of the development of a new assessment of need for social housing support, we will provide a nationwide, consistent standard and an objective suite of criteria. The details of such criteria are best suited to secondary legislation and this is what the Bill provides for. In developing these regulations we will be informed by the European typology of homelessness and housing exclusion, which were alluded to in contributions and which were the basis of consultations with The Housing Forum on the new system of assessing needs.

An area of legislative change proposed in the strategy A Way Home deals with homeless action plans. If possible we will provide the necessary statutory basis for this during the passage of the Bill through the Oireachtas. This matter has been raised by some Senators. Senators Bacik and Doherty questioned whether it was intended that new schemes such as the rental accommodation scheme will ultimately replace traditional local authority housing to meet housing needs. The answer, which I wish to clearly state in this House, is "No". It is not my intention that this will be the case. There always will be a local authority housing programme. This Bill, however, provides the statutory basis for a change signalled in Delivering Homes, Sustaining Communities. That change seeks to respond to the fact that, as the range of housing needs expands and becomes more complex, so also must the response from housing authorities if those needs are to be adequately met.

A point mentioned by several Senators was the unavailability of housing units for single people in many local authorities. I know that to be the case from my own experience of local authorities and I recognise that as a deficit in the system. The rental accommodation scheme is an ideal opportunity to deal with many of those cases. I see a major take-up by people in that regard and it is being used through the local authority system.

This move to a more flexible and graduated range of housing supports reflects the philosophy underpinning the NESC report on housing. We have invested significantly in housing in recent years to increase the level of output. The Exchequer spending this year will be more than three times that in 2000. In the past ten years, the output of newly built or acquired social housing has risen from under 4,000 units in 1998 to almost 8,700 units last year. When other forms of social housing support and vacancies arising in the stock are taken into account, some 14,600 households' need for social housing support were met last year. That is a substantial figure, and there is still more to be done.

Schemes such as the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, are providing additional choice in meeting this diversity of need. RAS has proven to be a very good response to the housing needs of single men, for example, which many Senators mentioned, who may not have got sufficient priority in housing lists in the past. Senators made strong points in that regard. If the needs of a RAS tenant or any other tenant changes, the appropriate response to that changing need can be reviewed and a different form of social housing support offered. Section 19 reflects this new reality, pulling together the various elements of social housing support that are available to meet the diversity of existing and emerging housing needs.

A number of Members, including Senators Coffey, Brady, Ellis and others, referred to the issue of vacancies in the local authority stock. The rate of such vacancies is monitored as part of the local authority annual service indicators as we are concerned to use our existing stock effectively. I understand that the median average for all local authorities at the end of 2007 indicated that 4% of dwellings were empty. That is the figure available to us. While there are many legitimate reasons for vacancies, we have strongly encouraged local authorities to turn around stock as quickly as possible. The local government audit service will be carrying out a value for money audit on housing management and maintenance in local authorities in 2009 and I look forward to seeing the results of that work to examine how we can make further progress on that issue.

Senator O'Malley raised the issue of the programme of works, people who save money and so on. Those are the type of internal receipts we see them use for the upgrading of existing stock. We would hope, through the service plans of the council, that is what would be done. There would not be any penalty involved. It would be a matter for the local authority members through the service plan. We see that as one area of the service plan where they could decide to implement a programme of refurbishment and upgrading of existing local authority stock.

I share the concern expressed by many Senators that local authorities should have mechanisms available to deal with anti-social behaviour in their estates. I understand from all Senators here and from contributions on the previous day that everybody is concerned about that matter. The legislation currently before this House, and which I hope will be enacted by the Oireachtas, will not solve this problem on its own. We must examine the reasons behind homelessness or anti-social behaviour. There is not just one reason. There are several reasons including family breakdown, addiction, be it drugs or alcohol, mental health problems and a range of other problems and therefore a range of agencies is needed to deal with the problem. What I am doing is putting in place a framework into which those agencies will be able to dovetail, whether it is the Garda, local authority members, the Health Service Executive, Neighbourhood Watch or community groups. They all have a part to play and I hope that will happen because anti-social behaviour is a scourge in some areas of our cities, towns and villages. It is a major problem for tenants who look after their houses and live within the laws as laid down by the State. Having their lives upset by anti-social behaviour is a major intrusion into their lives.

Anti-social behaviour can threaten the sustainability of communities and further disadvantage vulnerable households. The provisions of the Bill go some way to improving the existing regime by updating the definition of anti-social behaviour and introducing anti-social behaviour strategies in section 34. In conjunction with the Attorney General's office, I am examining the scope for further changes to existing legislation that will enhance the role of housing authorities in addressing anti-social behaviour. I will incorporate any further measures in this area during the Bill's passage through the Oireachtas.

A number of Senators raised important points which I will address. Senator Carty raised a number of issues. He complimented the voluntary housing sector on its good work, and I endorse that. We are fortunate that so many people have moved into the area of bringing forward schemes in the voluntary housing sector. They are providing good accommodation for people in need.

On private rental accommodation, ancillary services is a broader issue. It is important that housing estates, whether they be private, public or a mixture of both, have ancillary services including schools, shops and so on because they cannot develop into a community otherwise. One of my roles, apart from the one on housing and urban renewal, is the development of new areas. That is an area on which I intend to focus a great deal in the future. We are drawing up plans on areas throughout the country and I will insist that the Departments play their part in the plans being developed for those areas. The local authorities will be the policy makers to the extent that they will come forward with proposals to my Department but other Departments will have responsibility as well. There is no point in a Department saying it will deal with a particular school, road or library issue at another time. We must have integration. There is no point in talking about sustainable communities if we do not start from the bottom, that is, we must have integration of services in those new developing areas with the community to allow us build a sustainable community.

The Senator mentioned the housing service plans, which other Senators mentioned also. The housing service plans are a reserve function of the local authority. They were raised in the debate under two headings. Senator Norris said he did not want them to have autonomy to the extent that their plans would be the bible, as it were, and Senator Burke indicated that he did not want the Minister to have any major involvement. A bit of both would not go astray. It is a reserve function but it is necessary that the housing service plan dovetails into the national strategy. I hope that will be the case but the local authorities are the people on the ground and if the county manager, with the local authority members, bring forward a plan it will then go forward from the Executive. If conflict arises in some situations the Minister may have to take action. That process is available as a precaution to ensure the national strategy is in place.

Senator Norris made a very good point about the human dimension, which was made also by Senator O'Malley, namely, that in a downturn those who cannot shout loudly can be forgotten. I hope that will not be the case. I will be keen to ensure the importance of the human dimension is emphasised. People's homes are very important to them. I am responsible for ensuring people remain our priority.

Repossessions were mentioned by a couple of Senators. When I held my previous portfolio, I raised this issue with the Irish Banking Federation and the Financial Regulator. It does not bother me to say that banks and financial institutions should pursue repossession as a last resort. All possible avenues of resolution, such as discussion, should be explored before repossession is considered.

Senator Norris asked about a certain figure. It is really a matter for each local authority. We allocate a certain sum of money to each authority. I think approximately €2.5 billion is allocated within the voluntary housing sector. The local authorities are responsible for spending this money. I understand commitments have been made in that regard for 2008. Other money has been allocated through the grants system, etc. Any money which has not been drawn down has, of course, been accounted for.

The Senator also spoke about the assessment of needs, which is something I feel strongly about. There was a time when a person's name was put on a local authority housing list without his or her needs being assessed. I do not want that to continue. If a person asks a local authority to be considered for rehousing or some other form of housing support, in any of the ways open to the local authority, his or her needs should be assessed so that the most suitable form of support can be ascertained. The authority should not wait two or three years to conduct such an assessment. Local authorities in all parts of the country are doing that, however. I want people to be assessed. Local authorities should have a designated staff member whose job is to assess people as they make applications. He or she should be responsible for telling people whether they are suitable for participation in the local authority housing scheme or perhaps more suited to one of the schemes being provided for in this legislation, such as the incremental purchase scheme. We should not leave people in limbo. In many cases, people are left in limbo for many years.