Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 135: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government when it is expected that the various voluntary housing associations will be brought into line with good governance and best practice, with particular reference to any such bodies that did not always observe the articles of association in company law but which subsequently and retrospectively complied and sought arrears from tenants for the period during which they were not functioning in accordance with requirements; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [30680/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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The vision for the future of the housing sector in Ireland as set out in the Government's Housing Policy Statement, launched in June 2011, is based on choice, fairness, equity across tenures and on delivering quality outcomes for the resources invested. It is predicated on a more integrated and tenure-neutral approach to social housing provision and will involve a much greater role for approved voluntary and co-operative housing bodies as providers of social housing.

I intend to develop an enabling regulatory framework for the voluntary sector that will provide support and assurance both to the sector and to its external partners as it takes on an expanded role. I will develop this framework in consultation with the sector but I expect it will:

- assist approved housing bodies to develop key governance and management structures to facilitate an expanded remit;

- provide independent scrutiny and validation of such bodies' competencies, and

- place sustainable housing management policies and practices at the heart of a coordinated approach to the development of the sector.

Under the terms of my Department's voluntary housing funding schemes, approved housing bodies are responsible for the proper management and maintenance of dwellings funded under these schemes and for the operation of letting policies, the fixing of rents and compliance with all relevant statutory requirements. In the case of family-type accommodation provided by approved voluntary and co-operative housing bodies under my Department's Capital Loan and Subsidy Scheme, tenants are drawn from the local authority housing waiting list and rents are largely based on the local authority Differential Rents Schemes.

In the case of accommodation provided under the Capital Assistance Scheme, which is aimed at persons with special housing needs such as elderly, the homeless or persons with a physical or intellectual disability, rents are charged at a reasonable rate having regard to tenants' income. Given that the circumstances of individual tenants may change many times during the period of their tenancy, it is accepted that the rent payable by a tenant to an approved housing body should be capable of review in light of such changes.

The development of a regulatory framework will take time. In the meantime, I wish to work with the sector on the development of a voluntary code which, I hope, most approved housing bodies will sign up to over time. This code, which I would like to agree in 2012, will serve as a learning opportunity for the sector and for my Department as we develop a longer-term statutory framework that will best support the sector.

It is also my intention to extend the remit of the Residential Tenancies Act to those segments of the voluntary and cooperative housing sector that most closely parallel the Act's current remit. The intention is to provide the same security of tenure and access to dispute resolution mechanisms as currently exist in the private residential sector. This would be a significant step for equality of treatment of tenants of voluntary housing bodies and would address shortcomings in the current system around issues such as inequitable rents policies and where arrangements for dealing with rent arrears are perceived as unfair.