asked the Minister for Local Government if he is aware that an iron bungalow entirely suitable for temporary summer lettings has been condemned by the county manager on behalf of Arklow Urban Council, and that a demolition order has been made in respect thereof; and if he will make arrangements to ensure that houses suitable for summer lettings but not suitable for permanent habitation will be treated in a separate manner, and that they will not be unnecessarily demolished.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Houses for Summer Lettings.
21.
I have no functions in relation to demolition orders, which may be made by housing authorities only where they are satisfied that the dwelling houses concerned are unfit for human habitation, and incapable of being rendered so fit at reasonable expense. The housing authority's decisions in these matters are subject to appeal to the Circuit Court.
There is adequate provision in existting law for distinguishing between dwellings of a temporary type, which may be used for summer lettings and others. Powers for the regulation of temporary dwellings are available to sanitary authorities under the Local Government (Sanitary Services) Act, 1948.
Could the Minister state whether, if a building is accepted as being suitable purely for temporary use, as he has indicated, and the person who has been in such a building previously permantely moves out, does that disqualify the local authority from subsidy?
I am afraid I did not catch that.
It is a bit too complicated. I shall set out the details in a separate letter to the Minister. In this case is the Minister aware that the decision was to prevent summer usage and was, in fact, made because that was the only way in which the local authority felt they could get the subsidy from the Vote on the transfer of the house?
There is no distinction between a permanent dwelling and a temporary dwelling as far as the law stands.
I thought the Minister said there was.
Not under that Act. There is another Act. In the Sanitary Services Act the following definition is given:—
A temporary dwelling is defined for the purposes of the Sanitary Services Act as (a) a tent, or (b) van or other conveyance (whether on wheels or not), or (c) shed, hut or similar structure or (d) a vessel on inland waters.
As far as summer dwellings are concerned, there is no distinction in the law. What serves for one serves for the other. If the Deputy still wants to get information——
Surely what the Minister has just said is in contradiction to what he said earlier, that the fact is that there is no difference and that if someone is living in a house suitable for summer usage and not suitable for permanent usage, the house must be demolished. That seems cracked.
No. I shall repeat what I said. No legal distinction exists between a permanent dwelling and a temporary summer dwelling.