Marc MacSharry (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State to the House and I thank the Labour Members for tabling this motion, which we support. That is not to rain entirely on the amendment, but we feel it more appropriate on this occasion to support the motion rather than the amendment. I believe that Sinn Féin could usefully do the same in this instance.

When we were on the other side of the House it used to gall me to read some Government motions that commended and welcomed Government actions. I love the one from the Government that acknowledges our collective failure in an area rather than pats ourselves on the back. While there has been some progress much of it is superficial. We might have a committee on this, a steering group on that and something else on the other. However, this is another area where we are losing the battle. That is not to be overly critical of this Government or absolve any previous governments. It is one thing to have the report and the roadmap, but it is another thing not to implement it quickly enough.

Many Members talked about the number of refuges. One wonders what the issue is when we consider that in the north west where I live there is no refuge - although in these weeks there is the opening of two apartments to cover the Sligo, Leitrim and west Cavan area. While this is welcome it is a long way short of the original plan and what was hoped for or indeed what is needed to meet the demand in the area. I believe this is replicated elsewhere in the country. However, our problem is not with the supply of vacant properties and one wonders why an innovative cross-departmental team could not make use of these resources given that budgets are beings slashed and it is a loaves-and-fishes exercise for all Departments. When we have all of this property available is it not possible to dip in and use it at least on a temporary basis for some kind of preferential rate and make it available to people? I know there are legal issues and challenges around that and I appreciate it is not that simple.

There are a lot of intelligent people in Ireland, the Government, political parties and Departments who could come up with ways of connecting the boxes and the legislative amendments that may be required to facilitate that kind of flexibility, which seems all too foreign at times when it comes to Departments and legislation. We need to embrace that.

Senator Reilly raised the issue of people falling between two stools whereby the wife or, more rarely, the husband has to leave the family home in a situation of negative equity or mortgage arrears. Such individuals are not eligible for the housing list or rent allowance because the boxes do not connect. It will not cost anything to deal with that challenge. It is a scenario that arises despite the best efforts of housing officers and directors of services who want to help and may have suitable accommodation but cannot even make an assessment due to the rules and criteria. The Minister of State could usefully engage with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government in this regard. I do not doubt that the introduction of greater flexibility would present legal challenges in that somebody in a different scenario could argue for similar treatment. Nobody said it was going to be easy but it is an issue that we need to prioritise.

The question of funding is ongoing. I am involved in the domestic violence advocacy service in terms of chairing a group that is trying to advance the provision of a refuge. The service does brilliant work and, apart from the training it provides in the counselling of victims of domestic violence, 70% of its work is in the area of fund-raising and other activities separate to what it would prefer to be doing because it needs to earn the money to keep the lights on in its offices. It is, however, in receipt of some funding from the HSE. I do not underestimate the funding challenge and this is why I call for a more innovative approach to certain tasks. We have no shortage of offices, houses and hotels. Last Monday, while wearing a different hat, I went to see a hotel that is for sale in Sligo. The hotel contains 32 apartments and the guide price at auction is €150,000. If it is going to sell at anything close to that price, the HSE should be at the auction because the price is a steal in an era when we are looking for accommodation for refuges and social housing generally.

I thank the Minister of State for coming to the House for this debate and do not condemn him for his response. Similar responses were given when Fianna Fáil was in government but this is not a subject on which we should pat ourselves on the back. We have failed collectively in this area. I appreciate that the Government faces funding difficulties but we must be more innovative in our approach. The housing eligibility issue is crucial for women who have had to leave the family home and the issue of provision of refuges could be addressed by dealing with NAMA, even if on a temporary level.