Colm Burke (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I agree with Senator Cullinane on the housing issue. It is not only about the problems that local authorities have in managing their housing stock as there is also an issue regarding vacant housing. As I understand it, Cork City Council has over 500 vacant houses, so we must devise new schemes to bring such properties back into use. If necessary, we should work with the private sector to bring them back into use rather than having them left idle. I agree with Senator Cullinane in that during the economic downturn in the 1980s, there were initiatives put in place to help the housing market, so we should consider the matter again.

There are people in local authority housing in a financial position to buy a property but we are not doing enough to encourage them to do so. Housing prices have decreased and even in the past week, somebody came to me asking what was the procedure to buy a property. That person had an adequate income to buy and the repayments for a mortgage would be less than the rent paid to the local authority. There is also the issue of making money available to local authorities to repair existing houses.

I will refer to the current procedure in the High Court with regard to taxation of costs, which I have raised previously. There is much delay in the taxation of costs, meaning there is a cash flow problem in many legal practices across the country. I ask for a proposal to be put to the Taoiseach and Minister for Justice and Equality. Currently, there are two taxing masters in the High Court and I suggest we appoint a third. This would be cost-neutral as every time the taxing master makes an award of costs, he or she is also entitled to collect stamp duty, which would be sufficient to cover the cost of employing a taxing master. I ask for a third taxing master to be appointed, even if it is only for a two-year period, to deal with the significant delays arising from the volume of work being presented to the existing taxing masters.

My request should be taken on board. Will the Leader bring this matter to the attention of the Minister for Justice and Equality to resolve many legal practices' outstanding cash flow problems?