Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 October 2012
58. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to introduce guidelines for local authorities to facilitate a transparent housing waiting list system in which applicants would have access to their own standing via a reference number. [46203/12]
View answerAs part of my role as Minister with responsibility for Housing and Planning I am overseeing a programme of social housing reform. I am currently finalising a review of the implementation of the social housing assessment regulations introduced in April 2011, the result of which I expect to publish as revised regulations and guidance in the coming weeks. I also intend to build on the Social Housing (Allocation) Regulations 2011 which came into force in May 2011. These regulations set out the conditions that housing authorities must take into account when making their allocation schemes. In my review of the policy, I expect to more closely align it with the new approach to the assessment of need and to put a greater emphasis on ‘time on the list’ as a criterion for allocating local authority housing. I believe that the ‘time on the list’ criterion will provide a much more transparent system for the operation of a waiting list than the current point based system operated by many authorities. It is a matter for housing authorities to communicate with both applicants for social housing support and current tenants, and I would expect such communication and access to information to be provided using all reasonable means to facilitate an efficient and effective service.
