asked the Minister for Local Government if, in relation to cottage repairs for the purposes of section 106 of the Housing Bill, 1965 a housing authority will be obliged to have regard, at least, to the provisions of the Second Schedule to the Bill.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Cottage Repairs.
20.
Subsection (4) of section 106 of the Housing Bill, 1965, prescribes the matters to which a housing authority shall have regard in determining whether or not a cottage or dwelling is in good structural condition. Within these limits, I am prepared to advise housing authorities that they may also have regard to the items in the Second Schedule to the Bill which relate to structural condition.
Does the Minister not appreciate the fact that by doing this he is visiting the sins of the local authorities on the tenants of those houses? Even at this stage will he not reconsider the position, in view of the fact that it will create serious hardship for local authority tenants who would not be in a position to carry out repairs on their own? Does he not appreciate that structural repairs would simply mean that the walls and roof would be in good condition and that all the rest of the house might be in very poor condition?
The general idea is that small repairs that could be regarded as within the competence of the tenants themselves to do need not necessarily call for the attention of the local authority and a works gang going out at probably ten times the cost in getting there and back related to the actual cost of doing the job. The real point about these houses is that their structural condition should be sound and this is what we intend to ensure, together with the suggestion I have made that I would refer them to the contents of the Schedule as well as the statutory obligation in the particular section of the Act and to have regard to the contents of the Schedule as well as to the statutory provision.
As long as the Minister has regard to the Schedule, I would be satisfied but when he insists that all he wants to take into consideration with regard to the Schedule is the structural condition, I am afraid he is defeating what he says. Would he not agree that anybody could describe a round tower as being in good structural condition but nobody would expect a local authority to ask a tenant to live in one?
A Deputy
Or Nelson Pillar.
Well, Nelson Pillar was in good structural condition up to last night.