Vol. 452 No. 2
5 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for the Environment the consideration, if any, he will give to the onus and duty of care placed on local authorities in relation to maintenance of local authority housing when considered against the rent levels which apply and recent court decisions; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [5251/95]
Local authorities have a duty of care arising from the discharge of their functions, as housing authority and landlord, to provide, manage and maintain housing for renting. While I am aware that, over the years, the courts have made awards against local authorities where they have been found to be in default of their duty, I have received no proposals from the local authorities for changes in the law arising from these decisions. I will, of course, be prepared to consider any submission a local authority may make to me on the matter.
Will the Minister agree that the local authorities are on a hiding to nothing because costs are never awarded against a tenant? Will the Minister impose a statutory limit on the duty of care on them? The background to this question is that Dublin Corporation was required to pay £2 million in costs and £500,000 in fees by the law firm in which her Cabinet colleague Deputy Mervyn Taylor was involved. That is a terrible waste of resources as only the legal profession and a couple of tenants benefited with one family getting £140,000. Would it not be cheaper for the corporation to give houses away instead of taking £10 a week from people and being stuck occasionally with awards such as that?
The Deputy seems to be imparting a great deal of information rather than seeking it.
Will the Minister impose a statutory limit on the onus of care as this is already the case under the shared ownership scheme? It appears that if the corporation gives the tenant 1 per cent of the value of the house it is in the clear. I understand Dublin Corporation made a submission to the Minister and I ask her to examine it with a view to imposing a limit.
I have not received the corporation's submission but if it is in the pipeline I will look at it very carefully.
Local authorities have statutory obligations both as housing authorities and as landlords and I want to ensure that standards are met in the private and public sectors. People have certain rights and I do not intend to take those rights from them. I appreciate there are difficulties and I am not unsympathetic to some of the points the Deputy made. When I receive this submission I will look at it very carefully.
Does the Minister agree that a local authority tenant should have a status over and above the rest of society? If I trip on my footpath or on my driveway, it is tough luck but should I live in a local authority house the legal profession would move in and get on the gravy train.
Hear, hear.
Will the Minister look at this situation as people in local authority houses or the legal profession behind them are making fools of the local authority? Does the Minister agree that local authority tenants should not have entitlements out of proportion to the rest of society as is the situation?
The Deputy has made a statement which he would have to substantiate. I do not intend to stand over a situation where council tenants have fewer rights than anybody else and that seems to be the implication of his statement.
They should have equal rights.
Tenants have certain rights and if they feel aggrieved they can go to court to have the matter resolved. As I have said already I will look at any reasonable submission on this problem from a local authority. I agree there is a general problem about compensation claims which is not my responsibility and is a matter for the Minister for Justice. There is an equality principle that has to be honoured regardless of the type of accommodation and that has to be maintained for people living in rented accommodation.
Dublin Corporation has paid out £2.5 million in claims against it because of conserver heaters alone. This seriously distorts the housing maintenance expenditure and only a couple of tenants and the legal profession have benefited. They are making a fool out of us. Will the Minister examine the corporation's submission? I hope she will come back to the House on it very soon.
