Sandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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Question 52: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the duration of lease terms for National Asset Management Agency properties designated for social housing; and the mixture of tenure approach that will be taken. [5912/12]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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Question 61: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the duration of lease terms for National Asset Management Agency properties designated for social housing; and the mixture of tenure approach that will be taken. [5918/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 52 and 61 together.

The units being advanced by NAMA will in general be provided through the Social Housing Leasing Initiative under the standard terms and conditions that apply. The length of lease is determined by negotiation which may vary to reflect the circumstances of a particular case and the terms of the contractual agreement. Generally leases entered into by housing authorities are for periods of ten to twenty years. The properties under consideration are part of the security for loans that NAMA has acquired. In the majority of cases, properties remain in the ownership of the original borrowers. The remaining properties are controlled by receivers appointed by NAMA. Once a demand has been identified, NAMA will make contact with the relevant property owner/receiver to determine if the properties are still available and to discuss how these properties can be best utilised.

It is expected that the majority of suitable properties will be secured through leasing arrangements with the property owners/receivers. Such arrangements will be determined on a case by case basis, and will involve either a local authority or an approved housing body as the prospective social housing provider depending on the particular circumstances in each case.

The Housing Agency is working with housing authorities and NAMA to determine whether there is a social housing demand for the properties identified. Where a demand is identified, this information will be provided to NAMA and arrangements will be made to secure as many of the suitable properties as possible for social housing.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 53: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the full requirement in terms of local authority housing needs at present, with particular reference to the means of those who may have lost their jobs and their homes through repossession as a consequence; if he will review the procedures whereby such persons are admissible to the local authority housing waiting list; if it is anticipated that extra housing units can be accessed or provided directly by whatever means with the objective of ensuring that empty housing estates around the country are utilised to obviate the need for rent support; if he has quantified the full extent of the requirement in terms of both the existing housing waiting list and those seeking to access this waiting list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5873/12]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Government is acutely conscious of the difficulties many households are facing in terms of mortgage arrears. In October 2011 we published the Report of the Inter-Departmental Working Group on Mortgage Arrears and implementation of the report's recommendations is a key part of the Government's ongoing efforts to tackle mortgage difficulty.

A Steering Group, chaired by the Department of Finance, has been established to oversee and drive the overall implementation of the report's recommendations and to report regularly to the Economic Management Council and to Government on this. In addition to the Department of Finance, the Steering Group includes the Departments of the Environment, Community and Local Government, Justice and Equality, Social Protection and Public Expenditure and Reform. The Central Bank is also represented on the Group.

Separate working groups, established to progress the individual work streams of this broad work area, report to the overall Steering Group. Significant progress has already been achieved across a number of the individual work areas.

§ The Minister for Justice and Equality has produced the General Scheme of a Personal Insolvency Bill

§ On "mortgage to rent", my Department has advanced work with a number of lenders and an approved housing body to pilot a scheme which will test the practicalities of such a measure in advance of wider implementation.

§ Regarding engagement with the banks, the Central Bank, as the regulator of credit institutions, has now received mortgage arrears resolution strategies and implementation plans from all mortgage lenders and these are being considered by the Central Bank.

§ Work has also commenced on the necessary steps to put in place the mortgage advisory function as recommended by the Inter-Departmental group.

In addition, my Department had already taken steps to take account of the critical interface between the Central Bank's Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process and the social housing needs assessment process. New provisions, introduced under the Social Housing Assessment Amendment Regulations introduced in July 2011, now enable an authority to carry out a needs assessment at any time after a mortgage has been deemed to be unsustainable and before repossession proceedings have been instituted. My Department does not hold information on the number of households on local authorities' waiting lists, or on the number of households that may, at some point in the future, apply for social housing. The number of households on waiting lists continuously fluctuates as households are allocated housing and new households apply for housing support. Detailed information on the latest statutory assessment of housing need carried out in March 2011, including a breakdown by housing authority, is available on my Department's website - www.environ.ie or on the Housing Agency's website at www.housing.ie.