Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 23 October 2013
8. Deputy Seamus Kirk asked the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government the total number of persons on the social housing waiting list broken down by county; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [44869/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraA Cheann Comhairle, can I ask one question?
No, you cannot. Please, you are wasting time.
I have no wish to waste time.
You have no question.
I have tabled 14 questions.
You are not down on the list.
I did not get a chance to raise one.
No, sit down, Deputy.
I am asking for the questions to be grouped.
Deputy, resume your seat, please.
Why can we not group the questions?
Will you resume your seat?
It does not make sense.
You did not come out in the lottery. I am sorry. It is not my fault.
A Cheann Comhairle, can I make a point?
No, Deputy, please.
I wish to support Deputy Ellis.
No, Deputy, that is not my business.
A Cheann Comhairle, could you use your great experience to ensure-----
Question No. 8, please. Deputy Nulty has a question which is two down and I want to reach it. You are wasting time.
A Cheann Comhairle, this is unacceptable.
No, sorry. I am dealing with the rules.
This is a specific question that I am answering. My Department does not hold information on the number of households on local authority waiting lists. These figures fluctuate as households are allocated housing and new households apply for support.
In accordance with section 21 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, I directed all housing authorities to prepare a summary of social housing assessments carried out in their areas on 7 May 2013. The data submitted by housing authorities are being analysed and, once verified, will be collated and a report published by the Housing Agency. The report findings will detail the number of households on waiting lists in each local authority, broken down by basis of need, employment status, age of applicant, length of time on waiting list and other categories. This information will provide an important insight into the level and type of need for social housing support throughout the country.
The current assessment is the first to be carried out since the commencement of the social housing assessment regulations, dated 1 April 2011, which introduced a standardised system for assessing applicants for social housing support, including revised basis of needs criteria. The results, when available, will not therefore be directly comparable with the results of the last assessment carried out on 31 March 2011, which are available on my Department's website www.environ.ie and the Housing Agency's website www.housing.ie.
Like other speakers, I am surprised the Minister of State has not seen fit to group many of these questions. They seem to overlap. It is normal practice for such questions to be grouped. The Minister of State might respond to that in her reply.
What discussions or negotiations has the Minister of State had with NAMA and the local authorities to seek to reap the social dividend that was to be received by the State in respect of the number of units within NAMA that were to be released to local authorities? NAMA has to date transferred only 400 homes despite more than 4,000 being earmarked for transfer. That is an abject failure in my book and, I imagine, in anyone else's book. Will the Minister of State set out the nature of her contact with NAMA and the local authorities to address this issue and get the dividend to which the State is entitled?
The Minister, Deputy Hogan, and I met representatives of NAMA approximately one month ago and discussed this issue again. We have met them several times. There have been improvements. NAMA has set up a special purpose vehicle which is assisting in moving the properties more quickly.
More than half the units, including houses and apartments, suggested by NAMA as being available for social housing were considered unsuitable by local authorities because they are in locations where there is no identified housing need. We are facilitating the quickest possible transfer of those which are suitable.
At issue are properties in the control of NAMA but which are owned by someone else, which means there is a complicated process of transfer. There is also the issue of whether they are suitable and whether work needs to be carried out as well as conveyancing and so on. A good deal of time is involved in transferring any given property. More than 1,000 properties are in the system and under consideration. The number Deputy Cowen referred to is the number that have been transferred.
In respect of the grouping of questions, we will have a look at that for Question Time in future.
The Minister of State said more than half the properties available are unsuitable because they are not in locations where there is a need and a list for local authority houses. There are 100,000 on housing waiting lists throughout the country. The Minister of State would do us all a favour if she were to tell us these areas where there is no need for houses to meet local authority housing waiting lists. A total of 4,000 houses are available. The Minister of State has said 2,000 are in areas where there is no demand. It is incumbent on her to inform the House where she believes there is no demand given that, as Deputy Boyd Barrett said, we are inundated with requests from people seeking to advance their situation and who find themselves without the ability to be allocated a home by local authorities.
I have to hand a list by county of those units that are considered suitable. It is part of an answer to another question tabled by Deputy Troy.
I would like to see a list of those that are not deemed suitable.
There is a variety of reasons. They may be in parts of the country in which there already is an oversupply of NAMA units, which are not in places where people are seeking social housing. Some may not be suitable for other reasons and may not be appropriate housing. While there is a variety of reasons, the Department must rely on local authorities to make these judgments and assessments. The Local Government Bill is going through the House at present and pertains to giving powers at local level. The local authorities deem whether they consider certain offers to be suitable for people on their waiting lists. If they judge them to be suitable, they are but if they judge otherwise, the Government must address that. In any event, 4,319 units have been identified by NAMA, of which 1,900 have been confirmed as suitable.
