Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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351. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the steps being taken to ensure that both social housing tenants and persons in receipt of rent supplement have access to an independent and impartial process to report and resolve problems including the standard of accommodation; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [29286/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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Tenancy problems experienced by social housing tenants should be referred to the relevant local authority in the first instance, and addressed through the authority’s complaints procedure. Should a social housing tenant feel s/he was unfairly treated, or not be satisfied with the local authority’s handling of the problem, it is open to the tenant to contact the Office of the Ombudsman, which provides a free, impartial and independent dispute resolution service.

Persons in private rented accommodation may avail of the dispute resolution services of the Private Residential Tenancies Board, which are provided in a timely, cost-effective and equitable manner.

Seán Kyne (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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352. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to regulate housing associations and co-operatives. [29287/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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The Government’s Housing Policy Statement, published in June 2011, identifies approved housing bodies (AHBs) as key partners in the delivery of social housing. This recognises both the constrained funding levels available for local authority construction programmes and the capacity and track-record of the voluntary and cooperative housing sector.

AHBs are uniquely placed to help drive the achievement of the housing supply responses set out in the policy statement. However, the move from capital funded programmes of construction and acquisition by approved housing bodies to more revenue funded options presents challenges for them. As such, I am developing an enabling regulatory framework for the sector that will provide support and assurance both to the sector itself and to its external partners as it takes on the expanded role envisaged for it in the policy statement.

This framework is being developed in consultation with the sector and 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’ competences;

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

An important step in this regard will be the publication in the coming weeks of a voluntary code for the regulation of AHBs. This code will be a first step towards a statutory regulatory framework that will protect the very significant State investment in the sector over the last two decades and will provide assistance to those working in the sector to meet the challenges ahead. It will serve as a learning opportunity for the sector and for my Department as we develop this longer-term statutory framework t o best support the enhanced role of AHBs.