Ruairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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Question 16: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the measures he will put in place to ensure that local authority owned rented dwellings are of a standard similar to that expected of private rented dwellings. [43062/08]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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The minimum standards for rented accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 1993. These regulations apply to local authority and voluntary housing units as well as private rented accommodation and local authorities have responsibility for the enforcement of the regulations in relation to all properties — local authority, voluntary and private. In the Partnership Agreement Towards 2016 the Government committed to updating these minimum standards and recently delivered on this commitment by approving a package of measures. Revised regulations introducing higher standards for sanitary and cooking facilities, heating, ventilation and lighting will come into effect on 1 February 2009 and, with a limited exemption for the provision of white goods, will apply to local authority housing units.

The key element in ensuring good standards of local authority housing is the performance of local authorities in relation to the maintenance and, where necessary, improvement of their housing stock. These are matters in respect of which local authorities have a significant degree of devolved responsibility and which are subject to oversight by the elected members of each individual authority. This role is to be strengthened further under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2008, currently before the Seanad, particularly in terms of the requirement to be placed on local authorities to prepare, and submit to the elected members for approval, Housing Services Plans, addressing a wide range of quality-related issues relating to their housing stock, including their management and maintenance policies.

Local authorities undertake planned maintenance and general improvement works to their own housing stock as part of their annual improvement works programme. This programme is submitted for approval to my Department and is funded from the authorities' own internal capital receipts. In 2008, it is expected that in the order of €150 million will be spent on improving local authority stock across the country. As announced in Budget 2009, an audit of the local authority stock will begin next year, in preparation for a programme for retrofitting to deliver improved energy efficiency; this programme will be informed by a number of pilot projects for which €5 million has been earmarked in 2009.