Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 6 Nov 2001

Vol. 543 No. 2

Written Answers. - Housing Report.

Jim O'Keeffe

Ceist:

191 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Foreign Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the report launched in July 2001 by CARA - The Irish Housing Forum in London; and if any support can be given towards ensuring that the recommendations in the report are implemented. [26379/01]

Minister for Foreign Affairs (Mr. Cowen):

The report to which the Deputy refers, entitled "Still beyond the Pale . . . ?", was commissioned by the Irish Housing Forum in London to analyse the response of social landlords to the specific housing and health needs of London's Irish community. CARA is one of the four organisations which make up the Irish Housing Forum. Among the main recommendations of the Report are that local authorities ensure that there is an Irish dimension to all equality policies, that local authorities and housing associations should do this by monitoring lettings to Irish people with a view to increasing the allocations of social housing to Irish people and that existing and new funding programmes should look specifically at the need to meet Irish needs.

The report was officially launched by the then Irish Ambassador in London on 20 July this year. The Ambassador underlined the usefulness of developing co-operation between groups serving the Irish community and local and central government bodies in Britain. The report was prepared with the support of the British Housing Corporation and the British Commission for Racial Equality. Their representatives attended the launch as did a wide range of Irish community organisations including the Federation of Irish Societies and the Action Group for Irish Youth. The embassy brought the report to the attention of the Interdepartmental Committee on Emigration on 19 July in advance of its publication on the following day.

The Irish community organisations themselves have a central role to play in achieving the objectives of the report. In addition to their efforts, the embassy has met with representatives of the Irish Housing Forum to discuss ways in which the embassy can help to bring the recommendations of the report to the attention of the appropriate central government authorities.