Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)

Senator James Heffernan raised the issue of retrofitting and insulation. There has been concentration on vacant houses. This in some ways relates to Senator Lorraine Higgins's question as to why it takes so long for people to move in. One of the reasons funding is directed towards vacant houses is to bring them up to standard to facilitate their letting. In a way Senator Lorraine Higgins's issue about speeding up the letting of vacant dwellings reinforces one of the reason the Department is focusing on vacant dwellings.

I sympathise with the point made by Senator James Heffernan which was also raised with me by Limerick county councillors. I am sure it is an issue for councillors in other parts of the country also where there is a tenant who has been living in a place for years and is looking at the house next door being done up and he or she is not able to have repairs done. Local authorities have their own resources, some of which they are supposed to use for repairs. Next year when we are making decisions on the provision funding I will be sympathetic to looking at the position of existing tenants because there is a genuine case that needs to be addressed. We might be able to set aside some money for this purpose.

Senator James Heffernan asked about the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency. This relates to the land aggregation scheme. The reason loans are being transferred to this organisation is that, unfortunately, local authorities bought land for house-building and following the bust were left with debts that they must pay. I understand the overall liability is approximately €500 million. What we have been doing is setting aside approximately €50 million per year and there is a queue of local authorities which are trying to access this funding. The objective is to take the cost of servicing loans off the books of the local authorities and, I suppose, park it. It is causing a financial problem for some local authorities who bought land at a time when they needed it - it is probably the advice they were given - and were then stuck with the cost of servicing the loans. We can give the Senator more information on the matter, if he wants it.

Senator Michael Comiskey also raised the matter of unfinished estates and asked whether they could be sold to young people. That is a good idea. It is probably one we need to put to NAMA because part of its briefs is to get a good return for the taxpayer from its property portfolio and also because it does not own the properties in question.

It is a complex issue but something we would nevertheless like to progress. I have already commented on the issue raised by Senator Higgins. Whatever we can do to assist local authorities to occupy vacant dwellings as quickly as possible will be done. I am very much aware of the difficulties faced by those waiting to be housed.

Senator Mullins asked about the amount of money available for the voluntary housing sector. The allocation for this year under the capital assistance scheme, CAS, is €70 million. However, there are other ways in which funding can be made available to voluntary housing associations. We intend later in the year to issue a multi-annual call for proposals which will involve asking local authorities to set out their priorities for social housing funding. Some of that funding will be administered through voluntary housing associations. There will not be a huge sum involved but associations will be able to access funding later in the year. I will follow up with the Senator on the particular case to which he referred.

Senator Mullins also referred to tenant purchase schemes and the difficulties experienced by people on low incomes in availing of such schemes. Ideally we would like to facilitate people to purchase the property in which they are residing if they can possibly do so. However, given the variations in interest rates and so on in the market, we must be careful that people do not take on something they cannot afford. There must be a balance between individuals' available income and their desire to purchase the property in which they are living.