Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 2 October 2014
198. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to establish an independent regulator for voluntary housing associations; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [37547/14]
View answerIn July 2013, Building for the Future a voluntary regulation code for the approved housing body (AHB) sector was published. The code sets out key governance, management and financial principles that AHBs commit to meeting on signing a Charter of Commitments. In February 2014 an interim Regulatory Committee was established to oversee the implementation of the code and to advise on the development of statutory regulation. The Committee includes experts in regulation, housing, law and finance and has been constituted as an independent committee operating, for the time being, within the Housing and Sustainable Communities Agency.
A Regulation Office has also been established within the Agency to manage the day to day functions of implementing the voluntary code. To date, just over 160 AHBs have signed up to the code and further details are available on the Agency’s website at http://www.housing.ie/Regulation.aspx.
In July 2014, the Government approved the preparation of the Heads of a Bill to provide for the statutory regulation and governance of AHBs. I expect that the finalised Heads of the Bill will be ready for submission to Government in Q1 2015, after which drafting of the Bill will be progressed by the office of the Parliamentary Counsel. The interim period of voluntary regulation will be a valuable source of information as to the scope and final content of the Bill.
Regulation will provide support and assurance to tenants, the Boards of AHBs and their external partners that the sector is well regulated. It will also safeguard the investment that has been made in the sector and encourage future investment.
