Mary Butler (Waterford, Fianna Fail)
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232. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government why he is discriminating against persons living in council properties who earn under €15,000 per annum and who have lived in their home for in excess of 40 years by denying them the opportunity to purchase the property; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19362/16]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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238. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will allow a person (details supplied) to be included in the tenant purchase scheme; the criteria of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19177/16]

Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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239. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will allow a person (details supplied) to be included in the tenant purchase scheme; the criteria of the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19178/16]

Tom Neville (Limerick County, Fine Gael)
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245. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if the clause stating no sale will be completed to a tenant who cannot prove they have their water bills with Irish Water up to date will be removed from the tenant purchase scheme if the water charges are suspended. [19371/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 232, 238, 239 and 245 together.

The consideration of individual applications and the determination of eligibility under the new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme is a matter for the local authority concerned, in accordance with the relevant provisions of the governing legislation for the scheme.

The new Tenant (Incremental) Purchase Scheme came into operation on 1 January 2016. The Scheme is open to eligible tenants, including joint tenants, of local authority houses that are available for sale under the Scheme and applies to all existing local authority houses, other than those classes of houses excluded under legislation. To be eligible, tenants must meet certain criteria, including having been in receipt of social housing support for a minimum period of one year and having a minimum reckonable income of €15,000 per annum.

The terms of the Scheme involve discounts of 40%, 50% or 60% off the purchase price of the house, linked to tenant income. On the sale of a house under the Scheme, the housing authority will place an incremental purchase charge on the house equivalent to the discount granted to the tenant. Generally, the charge withers away over a period of 20, 25 or 30 years depending on the level of discount involved.

The minimum reckonable income for eligibility under the Scheme is determined by the relevant housing authority in accordance with the detailed provisions of the Ministerial Directions issued under Sections 24(3) and (4) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014. In the determination of the minimum reckonable income, housing authorities can include income from a number of different sources and classes, such as from employment, private pensions, maintenance payments and certain social welfare payments, including pensions, where the social welfare payment is secondary to employment income.

In determining reckonable income, the income of the tenants of the house, including adult children that are joint tenants can be included, as can the income of the spouse, civil partner or other partner/co-habitant of a tenant who live in the house with them.

In order to ensure the sustainability of the scheme, it is essential that an applicant’s income is of a long-term and sustainable nature. This is necessary to ensure that the tenant purchasing the house is in a financial position, as the owner, to maintain and insure the property for the duration of the charged period, in compliance with the conditions of the order transferring the ownership of, and responsibility for, the house from the local authority to the tenant.

The Water Services (No. 2) Act 2013 provides that Irish Water shall collect charges from its customers in receipt of water services provided by it and all dwellings connected to the public water or waste water systems will remain liable for domestic water charges up to the date the suspension of charges takes effect.

Section 3(A)(9) of the Water Services Act 2014 provides that a person who is a tenant of a dwelling let under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2014 and who proposes to purchase the dwelling shall, before completion of the sale, provide the local authority concerned with a certificate of discharge from Irish Water confirming that any water charge in respect of the dwelling owed to Irish Water has been paid. The sale of the dwelling cannot proceed until a certificate of discharge in respect of the dwelling has been received from Irish Water. I have no plans to amend the legislation in this regard.

In line with the commitment in the new Programme for a Partnership Government I intend to undertake a review of the 2016 scheme following the first 12 months of operation. I will bring forward any changes to the terms and conditions of the scheme which are considered necessary based on the evidence gathered at that stage.