Paschal Mooney (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the holding of the debate because I hope it will provide an opportunity for Members on all sides of the House to ensure they will not be bumped into accepting recommendations from people who seem to think we should just lie down and accept what they say as gospel. There are many dimensions to the issue of Seanad reform, while the working group has made many recommendations, but that is a matter for discussion later in the debate.

I again bring to the attention of the House the question of English language schools, a matter I raised last week. As Members will be aware, there has been a protest outside Leinster House and also outside the immigration services of the Department of Justice and Equality by non-EU students who find that not only are they losing their schools but also their money. The latest information is the next school that is tethering on the brink and may close is the IEA on Dominic Street. It was reported on RTE earlier that the owner of the school had left the country. It is true that he has left. He is a Brazilian and left the country a few weeks ago because he was afraid of his life that the school would have to close. He has all of the money which he is not going to pay back. I understand a group of students in Brazil have already approached him to look for their money back. I have spoken to people involved who are concerned about their jobs, as well as to students who are concerned about the loss of their money. Can we get some indication of what is the thinking in the Department of Education and Skills on this issue? Can we find out who is the regulatory authority? According to reports, on the one hand, the students are being told it is the Garda, but, on the other, they are being told it is the Department of Justice and Equality or the Department of Education and Skills. It is a very serious problem. I understand from figures supplied by the Department of Justice and Equality that the sector is worth €800 million to the economy, a huge amount of money.

I have no doubt that the announcement made today by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government on the allocation of €317 million for social housing will be repeated from the rooftops by Members on the Government side of the House. It was salutary listening to Fr. McVerry earlier on RTE Radio 1 when he pointed to the reality. It is an empty formula. A total of 1,700 social houses will be built over three years which means, as Fr. McVerry said, we will focus on 2% of those who are homeless. There are more than 100,000 people on waiting lists nationwide and Fr. McVerry expects an extra 25,000 to be added to the lists as a result of the banks foreclosing on those with distressed mortgages, yet we are talking about a paltry 600 houses being provided a year over a three year period.

Will the Leader provide clarity and establish exactly what will happen to those houses that have been boarded up across local authority areas? As he will be aware, we have had a number of debates on the issue in this House. It emerged that one of the greatest sinners in that regard was Cork City Council, in the ownership of which there were significant numbers of boarded up houses. I am not singling out Cork City Council specifically, but it is one of the local authorities that have been dragging their feet in this regard. Can clarity be brought to the question of boarded up houses in the ownership of local authorities as the issue was raised in the Minister's statement today? The making available of these houses, with the building of the 1,700 houses about which the Minister spoke, would go a long way towards easing the pressure in the provision of housing.As Fr. McVerry stated, even one homeless family being taken out of hotel accommodation or substandard housing is to be welcomed.