Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 6 November 2012
714. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the number of voluntary housing associations operating here; the number of units being managed or owned by each; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48202/12]
View answerThe Government’s Housing Policy Statement, published in June 2011, recognises the approved housing body sector as a key partner in the delivery of social housing solutions for low-income families and persons with specific categories of housing need, including older people, persons with a physical, intellectual or mental health disability, homeless persons and elderly returning emigrants.
Some 700 voluntary and co-operative bodies have been granted Approved Housing Body status by my Department in accordance with section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act of 1992. The number of active approved housing bodies is considerably lower and 443 bodies have completed one or more than one housing project yielding a total of 25,363 housing units to date.
In September 2009 the Centre for Housing Research published the Strategic Review of the Capital Funding Schemes for Voluntary and Co-operative Housing by Grant Thornton and Fitzpatrick Associates. The report recommended, inter alia , that the status of bodies in the voluntary and co-operative housing sector be reviewed and, specifically, that approved housing bodies (AHBs) that have never received funding should have their approved status reviewed and withdrawn if appropriate, for example if the approved body never was, or is no longer, active. My Department has recently rescinded the approved housing body designation of more than 80 inactive bodies that have also been wound up with the Companies Registration Office. A further cohort of approved housing bodies, that appear to be inactive , is currently under examination and I expect to de-list more bodies in 2013 in order to present a more accurate picture of the size of the sector operating in Ireland.
