Tom Shehan (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and congratulate her on this Bill. I do not believe it goes far enough, however. From my experience over recent years, I believe there are a number of points that have been overlooked. This could be dealt with if the Minister gave local authorities autonomy in bringing in by-laws on housing, because no legislation will cover housing needs, discipline, etc., for the whole country. Realistically, circumstances are different in every county. Local authorities should have the wherewithal to deal with their specific problems and issues through by-laws. I ask the Minister of State to comment on or consider that.

The vast majority of tenants are fine because they are well vetted by the local authorities. Could the Revenue Commissioners be involved in the allocation of houses? It is quite galling for people who have been on the housing list in my area for six or seven years, or maybe more, to see a BMW with a 141 registration outside a local authority house that has been gifted or given to a family. People find it very upsetting if they have been waiting for housing for an equally long period. If I bought a BMW with a 141 registration in the morning, I would probably be asked by the Revenue Commissioners where I got the money for it.

A gentleman who delivers for a hardware company approached me during the local election campaign - he was being facetious - and said we should vote for a certain candidate because if one wrecked one's local authority house, that candidate would get it done up. The gentleman said that if one wrecked one's house a second or third time, it would be done up yet again. The man to whom I was speaking said he had delivered hardware to certain houses three times after they had been wrecked by the tenants on three occasions.

We must tackle the issue of single people living in three-bedroom houses. One way to do that is by building two-bedroom houses. I have no audit in this regard but I have sought the figures and hope to have them soon. There are many people who want to scale down who are in three-bedroom houses. Two-bedroom houses would do them. Scaling down would help address the housing crisis.

People coming out of prison are not catered for, despite their having served their time. They seem to be moving to certain areas. Something should be done in this regard through the justice system.

In Kerry, the prominent names are O'Sullivan, O'Connor and O'Donoghue. At present, there are 151 Wards in Tralee seeking housing. Is it right for people who are relocating from one area to another to expect a local authority to provide housing to them during a crisis? Must a local authority house anyone who comes knocking on its door from another local authority area or county? Through by-laws, something could be done in this regard.

A disappointing feature of local authorities, on which I may be contradicted, is that they do not really engage with the long-term lease scheme. They could go to the private sector and rent houses for ten or 20 years, thus giving applicants security of tenure for that term. The local authorities have not really engaged in this regard. Their doing so would have ensured security of tenure. If tenants have security of tenure, they are happy.