Maria Byrne (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister of State and thank him for coming to the House to discuss the housing issue. It was the Minister, Deputy Eoghan Murphy, not the Minister of State, who was in Limerick recently when close to 100 houses were opened. I compliment the Minister and the Minister of State on that achievement. The Minister of State was involved in the planning stages. It was a very good news story to see people who deserved a house being accommodated. I pay tribute to the housing staff in Limerick City and County Council as one group they very much considered in the allocation of housing was single men. The issue of housing provision for single men needs to be highlighted because it tends to be forgotten by many local authorities. Single men are the forgotten group. Obviously, families take precedence, but some single men are living in deplorable conditions. The issue of housing provision for families and people with disabilities has been referenced. It is important when houses are being allocated that we look across the spectrum and take into account the needs of people with disabilities, families, single men and women, many of whom have fallen on hard times and cannot afford to buy a place of their own.

Some local authorities are seeking to secure on a ten-year lease houses that have been lying vacant. I would like such leases to be for a longer period, if possible, because a number of the houses have been lying derelict for a long time.

There are also former local authority houses that are privately owned which have become vacant and the local authorities cannot do anything about them. They are lying derelict and some of them have become a litter dump with people dumping rubbish in the front of them. The local authorities cannot clean them because they are privately owned. It would be helpful if many of them could be cleaned and a measure could be put in place to allow the local authorities to take them over. There are at least 20 such houses in private ownership in my area. They would make very valuable properties for people in which to live and it would help to address the housing crisis. That is another issue that needs to be examined.

There has been great positivity or a number of moves in the right direction. Modular housing was opened in Limerick recently. A number of families moved into them at Christmas time and since. It has been a positive development.

During the period I served on a county council a number of pre-1960 houses that had been joined at the roof were knocked because they were a fire hazard. There are still a number of such properties that need to be considered. Local authorities may have made submissions on this issue. Some of the properties have been lying derelict for the past ten to 15 years and should be prioritised. In the Ireland 2040 project there is commitment to regeneration throughout the country. For a long time we tended to knock houses, but that was not the right solution. I was delighted, therefore, when the Fine Gael-led Government started to revamp houses. In old local authority estates there was one road in and one road out, but that day has gone and it is a welcome good news story as the model did not work in a number of estates. The knocking of houses took the heart out of a community. People are now seeking to move back into the local authority estate from which they were moved. It is a positive news story when people seek to go back from where they came. The more emphasis that can be put on the taking over of private houses which are derelict, the betteer and the more we will see the heart being put back into the community.