Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 22 Feb 1994

Vol. 439 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Local Authority Housing Refurbishment.

Ms McManus

I am glad the Minister of State with responsibility for housing is present as I wish to stress the urgent need to complete the refurbishment scheme. Bray has had the misfortune of being used as an experimental ground in the past for various housing policies. An architectural experiment in the provision of large numbers of low cost housing schemes in the early seventies did not work. These were constructed to meet the housing need. This poor quality, substandard housing accounted for 30 per cent of the housing stock and it began to deteriorate almost as quickly as it was constructed. It was a disaster and it is only now that it is being put right.

For many years the residents of Oldcourt Estate had to live in the most atrocious conditions: ceilings were falling in, roofs were leaking and windows were falling out. It was to the credit of a previous Minister for the Environment, a member of the Labour Party, that the work was started. This is now nearing completion. I hope that this Labour Party Minister of State will not fall at the last fence.

One job remains to be done to make it a complete success, that is, the provision of front gardens. The quality of life of the residents of the estate has improved enormously but there is a danger they will be short changed. I am not talking here about any extras or luxuries but rather about what is the norm in any other council estate. A front garden in Oldcourt Estate, albeit a small one, would make the difference between privacy and nuisance, between harassment and peace. Because the residents do not have front gardens their privacy has been invaded by way of nuisance and noise. The Minister of State has the power to deal with this matter.

The residents responded generously to the directive issued by the Department on tenant participation. When the Department, not the council or the residents, stipulated that the residents should be consulted the residents put in a lot of hard work to come up with a proposal to meet their needs and which was feasible. It is vital that the Department does not fail them.

In relation to Hazelwood Estate, I cannot over-emphasise the need to commence a refurbishment scheme. Seventy-six houses are involved. Again, roofs are leaking, the timber panels are rotting and the infamous Conserva heaters which gave rise to liability claims in Dublin are being used. On this cold, dark, snowy night six families have no form of heating while in another 12 houses the heating systems have reached a critical point and no spare parts are available. It is vital to ensure that these people do not face another cold, harsh winter without the commencement of a refurbishment scheme.

This is the area with the highest unemployment rate in Bray and the residents do not have the resources to deal with the problem, but there is a rich community spirit. Again, they have responded to the request from the Department for tenant participation. I wish to stress that we will let them down in their drive to develop a strong community spirit if we do not show the same generosity of spirit.

The Minister of State has an opportunity to follow through on the directive on tenant participation on these two estates in Bray. I ask him to take this opportunity and respond by showing the same generosity of spirit that the tenants of those two estates have shown in relation to this desire to see co-operation and a partnership between the Department on the one hand and the tenants on the other.

Mr. Stagg

Before I deal with the estates mentioned by the Deputy I should like to say a few words about the remedial works schemes in general. I want to make it clear that the management and maintenance of their rented dwellings are matters for the local authorities to be funded from their revenue resources. The remedial works scheme was introduced to assist them in tackling major structural problems which, it was recognised, would put an undue strain on these resources. Eligible works include the refurbishment of dwellings built under "low-cost" arrangements, pre-1940 dwellings in need of structural repairs, modern sanitary facilities and certain run-down urban estates.

At the end of 1993 almost £100 million had been allocated to authorities to meet their expenditure on approved remedial scheme projects. The 1994 provision of £20.7 million — an increase of £3.5 million on the 1993 figure — is clear evidence of the Government's commitment to the scheme. This allocation will enable work to be accelerated on the 70 projects which are underway throughout the country and will enable a number of additional projects to be designated for funding under the scheme.

The 1994 capital allocations to individual authorities for the remedial works scheme and their other housing programmes are being considered in the Department and will be notified to the authorities as soon as possible.

The Oldcourt Estate in Bray is one of the "low-cost" estates which has been transformed with the assistance of remedial scheme funding. The estate consists of 240 low-cost houses, built between 1973 and 1976. The refurbishment work involves the provision of blockwork walls, pitched roofing, replacement of external doors and windows, improved heating systems and environmental works.

Up to the end of 1993 almost £4.7 million had been allocated to Bray UDC to fund the Oldcourt project. Work is now nearing completion and I understand that only seven houses remain to be done, together with landscaping and environment works. Revised proposals from the urban district council for the landscape-environmental aspects of the project are under examination in my Department and I hope shortly to be in a position to notify the council of the extent to which these works will be eligible for funding under the scheme. The Deputy may rest assured that the further capital required to fund approved work to this scheme will be forthcoming.

An application for funding under the scheme was received from Bray UDC in November 1993 in respect of the Hazelwood Estate. The works proposed to the 78 houses involved include wall panel replacement, major roofing work, provision of chimneys where none exists, replacement-improvement of existing heating systems and extensive environmental works, at a cost of about £1.6 million. This application is being examined at present and a decision in the matter will be conveyed to the local authority as soon as possible. Bray UDC received £325,000 under the bathrooms sub-programme to assist them to provide adequate sanitary facilities in rented dwellings which lacked them.

The amount of public finance being expended on remedial work schemes in general is substantial. It is essential that authorities take whatever steps are necessary to ensure that the management and maintenance of their estates will protect their investment and that the benefits of the refurbishment continue in the longer term. I assure the Deputy that the tenants in Bray will not be short-changed and that we will not fail to meet the case she has made.