I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 145 together.
The Government’s Housing Policy Statement of June 2011 acknowledged the capacity and track record of the voluntary and cooperative housing sector and placed approved housing bodies (AHBs) at the heart of its vision for social housing provision. In July 2013 Building for the Future, a voluntary regulation code, was published as an important step towards a statutory regulatory framework. My Department, together with the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency and the Housing Finance Agency, is now working with the sector to develop a set of financial criteria to further enhance its capacity to contribute to housing provision.
Development of the code was marked by close engagement with representatives of the sector. To date, a total of 76 organisations have signed up to the code, including 5 of the larger housing bodies. The voluntary regulation code is available on my Department’s website www.environ.ie.
Details on the content of the proposed statutory regulation are not, at this stage, developed. However, the implementation of the voluntary regulatory code in the coming months will be a valuable source of information as to the scope and final content of the proposed statutory regulation to be developed by 2016. In addition, there will be widespread consultation, in the normal way, during the development of the new legal framework.