Darragh O'Brien (Fianna Fail)

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her on her appointment. I wish to be associated with the sentiments expressed by Senator Wilson about Deputy Penrose. I thank the Minister of State for her contribution which was mainly constructive. We will allow her away with the non-constructive parts as having a cut is part of politics.

I am pleased the Minister of State referred to mortgage arrears in respect of social and local authority housing, as it is a matter I have raised in the House. While I am aware she has been in the Department for only a short period, since the revised code of conduct on mortgage arrears was published on 1 January 2011, the Department has not yet published guidelines for local authorities. The evidence available to me from my county of Fingal is that local authorities are finding it extremely difficult to deal with affordable and shared ownership housing. I would welcome a timeline setting out when the new code of conduct will be issued to the local authorities. How will the code be monitored? If a Senator or Deputy has information on cases where individuals believe local authorities are being reasonable, what can we do? While I know local authorities have a job to do, I have found that some of them have been inflexible on this matter. Why are we still waiting for a code of conduct to be issued to local authorities more than a year after the publication of a revised code of conduct on mortgage arrears?

I have a particular interest in unfinished housing estates which are a scourge affecting every county. The Department, through the local authorities, issued a list of housing estates exempted from the household tax, which is an issue on which I do not propose to dwell, that appears to feature several anomalies. I have documentary evidence of an unfinished estate, namely, Waterside on the Swords Road in Malahide, that does not appear on the list whereas other estates in the county are included in the list. Is it possible to submit to the Department details of such estates to have them exempted from the household tax? When a local authority deems that an estate is not unfinished, how can Deputies, Senators, councillors or, most important, residents interact with the Department to have the matter addressed? Given that the list produced by the Department is not comprehensive, public representatives could be of assistance in this matter.

I would welcome an extension of the remit of the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, which was established by the previous Government to provide important protection for tenants and landlords alike. The role of the board should be extended to include residences covered by the shared ownership scheme. From my dealings with the PRTB, it appears to be seriously understaffed. For example, the timeframe for dealing with a complaint runs into months if not years. Given that private tenants are generally on 12 month leases, time is of the essence when complaints are made. Does the Minister of State have plans to address this issue?

I wish the Minister of State well in her important portfolio. As she stated, no one has the answers to all of our problems. I would like to know how public representatives and members of the public can submit suggestions. Public representatives have received many complaints about the code of conduct on unfinished estates. Should complaints be submitted to local authorities or to the Department? I will provide information on specific estates that were not included in the Department's list of unfinished estates at the end of the debate.

While the Fianna Fáil Party will support the Minister of State in her endeavours, as Senator Wilson noted, she will require more funding. This may not be easy to secure but we must bear in mind the awful tragedy that took place in the midlands only a few weeks ago and a serious accident that occurred recently in my own area. We are all on the same page on this issue because we all want to resolve the problem of unfinished estates. I urge the Minister of State to push the Department to ensure local authorities are fair to those who are in mortgage arrears. Will she indicate when the Department will issue updated guidelines to local authorities for people who are in mortgage difficulties?