Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

I wonder why more landlords are not participating in the excellent rental accommodation scheme and ask the Minister of State to answer that question for me. Is it the case that we are not highlighting it sufficiently? It is an excellent scheme, under which the landlord has little to do. He or she does not have to pay the €200 second home levy; the council looks after the property and the rent is assured every week. I fail to understand why more landlords are not availing of the scheme.

Senator Glynn's amendment states Seanad Éireann "welcomes the potential role of the social housing leasing initiative in matching up housing oversupply with social housing need to accelerate social housing delivery in the most cost effective manner achievable". However, the long lease system does not seem to be working either. There is little going on in County Westmeath. Why is this not happening? It seems to be a no-brainer for landlords who have empty properties. Why are they not participating in either the long lease or the RAS scheme? I know many people who would be more than willing to accept accommodation under one or other scheme.

Spending money on housing for the elderly or the disabled is a way of keeping people out of institutions and nursing homes and allowing them the dignity of living at home independently by adding extra bathrooms or modifying their homes to deal with mobility problems. However, I worry that if the money is spent early on in the year, there will not be one penny left to provide such aid later. This is not only the case in County Westmeath. I have been speaking to my colleagues and it seems to be happening throughout the country. I wonder whether there is buoyancy anywhere - probably not.

I appreciate all the efforts being made by the Minister of State, but I wonder whether the problem is a lack of awareness of the schemes that I mentioned. I commend the Labour Party on tabling the motion and ask the Minister of State to make the houses in ghost estates available to families who are destitute and desperate for housing. I also ask the Minister to respond to my comments on bonds from developers. There is money available in local authorities for works such as road, footpath and lighting improvements.