Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 1 Jun 2000

Vol. 520 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - House Refurbishments.

Mr. Finucane

At a recent Limerick County Council meeting there was unanimous support that the Department of the Environment and Local Government should undertake re-roofing and refurbishment work on 43 houses at Clenma Estate in Croom, County Limerick. In the early 1970s, the National Building Agency, based on a Government initiative to facilitate industrial development at different locations, embarked on a building programme. It located houses at Newport, County Tipperary, which were subsequently purchased by the local county council, 140 houses at Glasgow Park in Limerick and 43 houses at Clenma, Croom, County Limerick. Of the 43 houses in the estate, 36 are owned and seven are rented from the council. The houses have substandard roofs. Insurance companies are unwilling to insure the houses because of the substandard roofs and the high risk factor involved. At present the residents have to cope with dampness and leakage of the roofs and walls. This is the only estate of its type in the country that has not been upgraded.

Limerick Corporation, because of political pressure, was provided with funds to upgrade 140 houses at Glasgow Park in Limerick. This decision was made in recent years. The Department of the Environment and Local Government will, if it is consistent with its approach in the past, state that it is primarily a private housing estate, thus, the residents are responsible for the works they may wish to carry out on their dwellings. It is my contention that the people in this estate, based on a previous Government decision, are being unfairly discriminated against. It is not sufficient for the Minister of State's Department, like Pontius Pilate, to wash its hands of the difficulty.

This original housing scheme was a Government initiative. I also believe the Minister of State should meet a delegation from this estate to look at the houses involved in order to get a better appreciation of what is required. The need to provide funds for the improvements on these houses rests with the Minister of State's Department. As I pointed out at the outset, all politicians in County Limerick support the residents of Clenma, Croom, in their just demands. I sincerely hope and call on the Minister of State to give a favourable respond to their demands.

Mr. D. Wallace

As with the previous matter, I have been asked by my colleague, the Minister of State with responsibility for housing and urban renewal, to speak on his behalf. I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to set out the position. At the outset and before dealing with the issues raised here, I must make it clear that there are no proposals from Limerick County Council before the Department for consideration in relation to this housing scheme.

The background to the issue is as follows. The 43 houses were constructed in 1974 by the National Building Agency under the guaranteed order programme initiated by the Government of the day. Under this programme, special funding was provided for the construction of houses to accommodate industrial workers. Loans were advanced by the National Building Agency to 31 applicants nominated by SFADCo to purchase houses. The balance of the houses were purchased by Limerick County Council at that time. In the intervening years a number of the council dwellings were purchased under tenant purchase schemes until at present when only six of the 43 houses are in council ownership. The position is, therefore, that this is primarily a private housing estate in which the majority of houses were not provided by the local authority. Consequently, apart from the small number of houses in the ownership of Limerick County Council, the private householders are responsible for any works they may wish to undertake to their dwellings.

There are a number of options currently available to assist lower income householders and elderly persons, in particular, to secure the necessary improvement works to their houses. These include the local authority house improvement loan scheme, the disabled persons and essential repairs grant schemes, improvement works in lieu of local authority housing and the task force on special housing aid for the elderly. I understand that Limerick Corporation had repairs carried out to similar type houses which were funded under the improvement works in lieu of rehousing scheme and which involved the re-roofing and exterior treatment of the houses.

It would be open to Limerick County Council to consider whether any of the above-mentioned schemes could be used to assist the homeowners in this case. Should a valid application for assistance under the terms of the scheme operated by the Department be received from the council, I can assure the Deputy that it will receive prompt consideration.

In so far as the local authority owned dwellings are concerned, their management, maintenance and improvement is a matter for Limerick County Council, to be funded from its own resources.

The Dáil adjourned at 5.20 p.m. until 2.30 p.m. on Wednesday, 7 June 2000.