Christopher O'Sullivan
Cork South-West · Fianna Fáil · Ireland
“The aim of the hierarchy of the plan-making, as set out in the Act of 2024, is to improve scope for the various tiers of the planning system to more closely relate to one another, therefore providing greater clarity and consistency for all involved, from individual citizens and residents' groups to landowners and developers and ultimately…”
“My understanding is that a ten-year modernisation programme has already been undertaken by the Courts Service and significant progress has been made in improving the availability and use of court data.”
“Under the Act of 2024, the national planning framework continues to spearhead and explicate the planning agenda and sits at the pinnacle of the plan-led system and structure, whereby all tiers of planning from regional to local align with strategic objectives set out in the national planning framework.”
“The Senator has suggested that such plans would identify strategic development priorities, including settlement hierarchy, infrastructure corridors, climate adaptation measures and areas for regeneration; set out indicative phasing for major infrastructure and public investment; include spatial mapping of long-term development objectives;…”
“The Bill also facilitates the completion of the work of the Valuation Tribunal and the facility for the local authority to issue the levy demand and, where necessary, for An Coimisiún Pleanála to deal with any appeals to the demand that may arise in those existing cases currently with the tribunal.”
“As the system of plan-making in the State has just been revised and is being implemented for the first time, the introduction of another layer of plan-making could undermine the new hierarchy that was carefully arranged and agreed following extensive engagement with a range of stakeholders, including the Office of the Attorney General, an…”
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“I am satisfied the reporting requirements contained in the principal Act are adequate as they include the full operation of the Act and amendments brought under the Bill will be encompassed in these reports where required. Furthermore, I have already pointed out my Department publishes monthly statistics pertaining to the grant scheme and the make-up of these statistics will be reviewed and updated where required upon commencement of the amendment Act. This will give real-time information that can easily be accessed online by Deputy Ward and, of course, other stakeholders. Amendment No. 55 proposes to insert a new subsection that mandates the appeals panel to publish certain anonymised information pertaining to the decisions it makes.”
“I propose to deal with amendments Nos. 16, 50, 55 and 56 as tabled by Deputy Ward. Amendment No. 16 proposes to replace text in section 5 of the Principal Act. It will require designated local authorities to publish statistics on a quarterly basis under various headings. My Department already maintains and publishes statistics relating to the scheme, updated on a monthly basis on its DCB webpage. Any additional statistics required on foot of amendments contained in this Bill will be considered, where appropriate, and incorporated into the published scheme of statistics going forward. Amendment No. 50 proposes to insert a new section in the Bill that would mandate the production of an annual report into the operation of sections 23A and 23B of the Bill, including various statistics.”
“The amendment proposes to insert a new section into the Bill that would amend section 3 of the principal Act. Section 3 relates to regulations made under the principal Act. I understand the Deputy is seeking to mandate an online portal to make the documents relating to the scheme available online. I am satisfied this information is already accessible online through web pages managed by my Department and those operated by designated local authorities and therefore I cannot accept the amendment.”
“I move amendment No. 13: In page 6, between lines 2 and 3, to insert the following: “Interpretation (Part 2) 3. In this Part, “Principal Act” means the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks Act 2022.”.”
“We are here, we are in government, we are the politicians, we are the decision-makers and we are well able to stand up for ourselves.”
“There were accusations of a lack of political leadership and I have to dispute that. Since the Minister took up the position his focus has been on increasing supply and increasing viability. In the ten or so months he has been in the position he has introduced a range of policy measures and legislation to do that. I know this legislation was also a priority. I am sure Sinn Féin could have drafted the Bill in a number of hours but these Bills have to withstand scrutiny so it is not as simple as the Deputy says. The officials cannot address the Dáil but I will have to defend them as well in terms of their dedication to getting this right. If the Deputy ever gets into power, these are officials he will have to work with so it is a bit disrespectful to point the finger like that.”
“I appreciate the comments made in relation to rental capacity and capacity in generally, especially in the context of how acute the situation is in Donegal.”
“I was not reading from a script. Deputy Doherty mentioned, in the example he provided, that perhaps a policy instruction came from the Department of justice and that the Department of Finance legislated for it. The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is legislating in this instance, and there may be policy discussions. Quite often in the context of housing policies we suggest taxation measures. However, those measures are always legislated for by the Department of Finance. We are here dealing with legislation. I am not sure if I am being clear enough on that. If there were taxation measures involved, legislation would have to be brought forward by the Department of Finance, as in the example the Deputy just cited.”
“I suggest continued consultation with the Tánaiste and Minister for Finance and his Department. I am not sure whether it was the previous Minister for Finance or the Tánaiste, who took up the role just recently, that the Deputy was consulting with. That would be my suggestion because tax measures are the responsibility of the Minister for Finance as opposed to the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage.”
“I will now address Amendment No. 8, which was tabled by Deputies Ó Broin, Doherty, McGettigan, Conway-Walsh and Mac Lochlainn. I take the points made by the Deputies that there is an urgent need to increase capacity throughout the country. There is also an urgent need to increase affordability in the housing sector and to increase capacity in the private rental sector and the rental sector in general. This is obviously a very acute issue, particularly in Donegal, which is obviously the county most affected by defective blocks. I accept that amendments can be introduced to try to oblige the Government to bring forward reports on measures. Because this is a tax measure, however, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has no remit in respect of it.”
“It is single one-off developments. That is where the focus should be. I will ask officials to look at this again and try to do a cost-benefit analysis on what it would cost the State if we allowed a small cohort who will have built and completed within the appropriate period but who, for whatever reason, missed out on the deadline for the application. They must be very annoyed and frustrated. They are taxpayers as well and a lot of that would be funding the scheme. I will undertake to do that.”
“There will be no further extension of the use of the waiver scheme to further extend the required completion date within which housing development that has commenced must be completed to secure the waiver. The answer I have given the Senator talks about the completion dates, and not necessarily about the deadline for application which is more specifically what he is referring to. I suggest, without creating a level of expectation, that I will ask officials to look at it again, especially where people building one-off houses and their first homes were, for whatever reason, unaware of the waiver or the deadline for application for the waiver. However, that is as far as the commitment can go because there may be impediments to allowing that cohort of people back in. I get it; I also have those constituents.”
“It initially applied for one year to all permitted residential development commenced on site between 25 April 2023 and 24 April 2024 and completed no later than 31 December 2025. On 23 April 2024, the Government approved an extension of the waiving of the local authority section 48 development contributions in respect of residential development commenced no later than 31 December 2024 and the refunding of Uisce Éireann water and wastewater connection charges in respect of residential development commenced no later than 30 November 2024. In April 2024, the final date for the completion of development works on qualifying houses under the schemes was extended for a further year, from 31 December 2025 to 31 December 2026.”
“These measures included the introduction of temporary time-limited arrangements for the waving of local authority section 48 development contributions, and the refunding of Uisce Éireann water and wastewater connection charges. The Government recognised that further measures needed to be put in place to help to address cost and viability, with a view to incentivising the activation of a pipeline of new commencements and assisting in the delivery of supply as quickly as possible. The waiver scheme was applied to all permitted residential development, including multi-unit developments, self-built and one-off houses, student accommodation and sheltered housing schemes.”
“I do not want to overpromise because there may be some impediment to that. The purpose of the development contribution levies is to provide funding to assist local authorities in the provision of necessary public infrastructure and facilities to support development. The contribution levies are charged by all planning authorities as a condition of planning permission for all forms of development proposals, including residential, and are collectible before or on commencement of the relevant development works. The rate of contribution applied may vary by unit size or type, or by geographical area. On 25 April 2023, the Government approved additional measures under the Housing for All action plan to incentivise the activation of increased housing supply and to help to reduce housing construction costs.”
“I thank the Senator for raising the issue. He made the interesting point that I take many of his Commencement matters. I would say that is because I am in the Department of housing. The Senator has been a champion for the housing issue. In fairness, he tries to raise it on every possible occasion. That is probably why I am getting many of them. The qualification criteria for this scheme are pretty black and white. It will be difficult to try to open it up again. I doubt there are many people in the cohort the Senator is representing. He is talking about individuals, in most cases, who are just trying to get a start in life. Notwithstanding what it says in the prepared response, I will give an undertaking to approach my Department to see if there is any hope that these people can be catered for.”
“I ask for a bit of patience, although I acknowledge that the Senator raised the issue in February. Let us see how the onboarding and training go and give Tailte Éireann a chance to ensure it can work out a lot of those issues.”
“I completely understand. The Senator is representing people who are being frustrated by this process and who are agitated by it. I totally understand. Fair play to the Senator for representing those people. As I outlined, I cannot get into the weeds in terms of the day-to-day running of the organisation. If Tailte Éireann has requests for me or the Department that will help to improve efficiency, we are there for those. It is onboarding staff who are now in the training phase. I hope that when that onboarding and training are complete, we will see further efficiency. I also referenced that the organisation is making a lot of operating changes. It is revising its procedures to ensure it does not become a bottleneck in the process. Work is ongoing.”
“There is a small bit more information there about how to access that information, but I would be interested to hear the Senator's views and thoughts on that detail.”
“Tailte Éireann also continues to promote its digital services and uptake of e-registration services where paperless application types are available to legal practitioners and financial institutions, which helps to reduce processing times for all the service users. It is understood from Tailte Éireann that where an application is lodged fully in order for registration, the application will be registered without any long delay. Applications involving transfer of registered land where no change in the registered map is required are in the main processed within 15 working days. Processing times for transfers that do require a change to the map and those requiring first registration of property are improving.”
“I am confident that as the full complement of staff are successfully onboarded, it will be in a position to reduce waiting terms across all application types. Outside of recruitment, every effort is being made by Tailte Éireann to reduce application processing times, including implementation of the following efficiency driving measures: revised procedures for more efficient handling of the large volume of applications that are lodged that are not in order to proceed to registration; a targeted approach to reduce the age profile of applications pending registration; revised internal processes aimed at reducing the volume of applications on hand that are not in order to proceed and remain under query; and an organisation-wide focus on reducing processing times with business process improvements now implemented across the organisation.”
“The continued increase in applications received for registration by Tailte Éireann year over year and challenges in recruitment for some time now have resulted in longer processing times for certain application types. Tailte Éireann has responded proactively to these challenges with a significant number of new staffing being onboarded and currently progressing through initial training. As a result, Tailte Éireann is now operating with increased staffing levels, which will support ongoing improvements in the delivery of registration services and contribute to the timely processing of applications. Tailte Éireann has advised me that improvements have been made to date in throughput times, particularly in relation to cases that do not require mapping.”
“The programme introduced standardised recruitment processes across internal and external mobility routes to ensure consistent and efficient staffing. Since its launch in February 2024, the Tailte Éireann resourcing team has focused on filling 147 priority roles. In addition, a further 276 vacancies, including 135 within the registration function, have been filled across Tailte Éireann through a combination of new hires, promotion and mobility placements. The remaining 71 active Tailte Éireann vacancies, 11 of which relate to the registration function, are currently progressing through various stages of the recruitment cycle with a target to reduce overall vacancy levels across Tailte Éireann to below 3% by the end of 2025.”
“Tailte Éireann provides a property registration system, property valuation service and national mapping and surveying infrastructure for the State. Under section 8 of the Tailte Éireann Act 2022, Tailte Éireann is independent in the performance of its functions. As such, as Minister of State, I have no role in the operational matters relating to its functions. In 2023, a request for a planned increase in the pay bill subhead of Tailte Éireann's vote was supported by the Department and subsequently granted in the Estimates for 2024. As part of Tailte Éireann's resourcing strategy, an accelerated recruitment programme was launched in early 2024 to address the high volume of vacancies and strengthen operational capacities in response to the increasing service demands.”
“We have some former Ógra Fianna Fáil membership in the Visitors Gallery. I thank Senator Boyhan for raising this issue. I will give him a detailed response. I hope there is some new material in there compared with what he has heard before, but in the response I think he will see that there has been an emphasis on recruitment and filling vacant posts, which I feel is acknowledgement from Tailte Éireann that it does not want to be a bottleneck in the process anymore and an acknowledgement that perhaps it has been in the past, but it is trying to smooth that out in terms of recruitment. Tailte Éireann is an independent Government agency under the aegis of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage.”
“We are committed to ensuring this scheme works for homeowners and I think they will agree that this Bill contains a number of fundamental and important legislative measures, aimed at further assisting impacted homeowners. I thank the members of the Oireachtas housing committee for assisting us in progressing this matter. This collaboration is appreciated and we hope to get this legislation passed as soon as possible. We will continue to work closely with all Members of the Oireachtas, and listen carefully to their views as we put in place regulations and guidance to ensure the scheme can address the real concerns of homeowners. As the Minister said, Committee Stage will be a good opportunity for questions and answers and to tease out a lot of the proposed amendments. I commend this legislation to the Dáil.”
“In addition to this, a review of the operation of the Act is required within three months of the completion of any review of I.S. 465:2018, the national standard that underpins the current grant scheme. As Ireland's official standards body, the National Standards Authority of Ireland has been tasked with the review of this standard and I understand this review is due to conclude in quarter 1 of 2026 with the publication of the revised standard. This will start the process for a requirement to review the Act that the Department stands ready to action. We will continue to work with representatives from all parties to ensure impacted homeowners are heard and listened to and that the scheme reflects their needs. Deputies are keenly aware of the issues of defective concrete blocks.”
“These technical amendments include measures such as: a review of determined options for certain homeowners; increasing the time within which remediation works should be completed; allowing the opportunity, subject to certain conditions, to either a person who was married to, a civil partner of, or cohabiting with a relevant owner prior to the commencement the Act, to now become a relevant owner; and the facilitation of ancillary grants to applicants who have reached the grant scheme cap. The programme for Government commits to undertaking the planned review of the scheme. This refers to the fact that the primary legislation mandates the commencement of a review of the scheme within three years of the Act coming into operation.”
“The homeowner liaison officer works with representatives groups and my Department to ensure the concerns of key stakeholders are heard and dealt with. As outlined earlier, the Bill contains a number of provisions. The main amendment will allow for retrospective grant payments. The others can be described as technical amendments to the Act and are proposed in order to enhance the efficient and fair operation of the grant scheme.”
“Through its framework of chartered engineers, it undertakes the assessment, survey, sampling, testing and categorisation of homes and thereafter determines the appropriate remediation option and grant amount to remediate the affected homes. Representatives from each of the designated local authorities also attend regular meetings of the implementation steering group. This group was established in 2023 and, along with the representatives from the designated local authorities and the Housing Agency, comprises officials from the Department and the homeowner liaison officer. The homeowner liaison officer, Mr. John O’Connor, chair of the Housing Commission and the Pyrite Resolution Board, was appointed to act as liaison with homeowner representatives and elected representatives in counties affected by defective concrete blocks.”
“This includes reviewing the levels of funding required to meet ongoing constructions costs under the scheme, as evidenced by the centre piece provision in this Bill, namely, the retrospective application of scheme cap and grant rate increases announced late last year. We feel sure that this will help and compensate many homeowners who have seen costs rise during the time in question. I also wish to acknowledge the role that designated local authorities and the Housing Agency play under the terms of the scheme. Designated local authorities are administrators of the scheme and the main contact for homeowners. The Housing Agency acts as agents on behalf of the designated local authorities.”
“The latest data shows that 3,022 homeowners are at various stages of the scheme. Of those, 326 applicants have completed remediation works to their homes under the grant scheme, with a futher 1,057 applicants having notified their relevant local authority that they intend to commence works under the grant scheme. Since the enhanced scheme came into being in July 2023, the levels of funding have accelerated. More than €235 million has been spent on the scheme to date. As the scheme ramps up, further sufficient and additional funding will be provided as required. The overall cost of the scheme is expected to be in excess of €2.2 billion excluding inflation. This is a demand-led scheme and the Government remains 100% committed to funding the remediation of DCB homes as and when necessary.”
“When a local authority that is not currently designated under the scheme determines that homes within its area may have been damaged by defective concrete blocks, it can seek to have the scheme extended to include any such county or part of that county. Following reports received from the Housing Agency, Government approval will now be sought for the designation of the relevant parts of Fingal and Wexford local authority areas. This will allow homeowners in these counties affected by defective concrete blocks to apply to the grant scheme to receive the funding and the help they need to fix their homes and move on with their lives. I understand that further local authorities will also be designated under the scheme in the coming months. The Government stands ready to provide financial help wherever it is needed.”
“I thank the Minister for outlining the amendments. I also thank him for his commitment to this issue. He met those impacted at a very early stage, listened to their concerns, understood the need for flexibility in the legislation and very quickly sought to bring forward this amendment. We are not there yet - there are several Stages to go through - but clearly he has outlined the urgency of this legislation and the need for it and shown his commitment to it, so I thank him for that. The Government is absolutely committed to ensuring that all such homeowners are financially assisted to remediate their homes to allow them to move on with their lives. The House will know that the scheme is currently open to applications in five counties, namely, Clare, Donegal, Limerick, Mayo and Sligo.”
“I thank Senator O'Loughlin. If she passes on the details to my office, I absolutely commit that they will make their way to the Department and the Minister and ensure it is prioritised. Despite all of the great improvements in the reduction of waiting lists, the fact that 12 people have been waiting over 12 months cannot just be a footnote. These are 12 individuals with stories, families and loved ones. We cannot just put it to the bottom of a page as a footnote. It is very important and they are the ones we really need to get to and improve. I thank Senator O'Loughlin for raising the issue. We will get the details to the Department and I hope we will have a good outcome on it.”
“Waiting times have reduced and there are some good figures but Senator O'Loughlin is on the ground meeting people and dealing with constituents who are having a different experience. We can get bogged down in statistics and patting ourselves on the back. There have been improvements but we have to take seriously serious incidents involving older people in particular, as Senator O'Loughlin has highlighted, because it can be dangerous if they are left waiting too long for an appointment. I appreciate Senator O'Loughlin raising the issue.”
“I am very pleased to be able to say that currently Naas is significantly exceeding this target, with 63% of patients waiting no longer than the Sláintecare ten-week target time. As I said earlier, we all acknowledge that many patients are waiting too long for hospital appointments and treatments. Since 2021, the Government has adopted a multi-annual approach to addressing the problem, and while no patient should have to wait 12 months for an appointment, the figures for Naas show that considerable improvements have been made. It is fair to say improvements have been made, and this is down to pressure from the likes of Senator O'Loughlin, working with the previous Government and the previous Minister for Health, to ensure the waiting list action plans were rolled out.”
“The total number of patients waiting has also shown significant improvement compared to the same period last year and in the year to date. The waiting list has decreased by 55% since October 2024 and by 36% in the year to date. The number of patients waiting, and the time they are waiting, have also shown substantial improvement since the adoption of the multi-annual waiting list action plan approach in September 2021. Since then, the total waiting list has decreased by 74% and the number waiting over 12 months has decreased by 99%, that is 982 patients. As we progress towards the ultimate Sláintecare targets, the 2025 waiting list action plan has a target of 50% of outpatient appointments to be undertaken within ten weeks.”
“In February of this year, the Minister for Health published the waiting list action plan for 2025, representing this Government’s continued commitment to reducing waiting times for patients and improving access to hospital care. With the 2025 plan, the Government is continuing to build upon the progress delivered to date under the multi-annual action plan approach. In relation to Naas specifically, the most recent National Treatment Purchase Fund waiting list figures are for October and they were published on 14 November. They show that 465 patients are waiting for an outpatient cardiology appointment in Naas hospital. Of these, 406, or 87%, are waiting six months or less and 454, or 98%, are waiting 12 months or less. Twelve patients, just 2% of the total waiting list, are waiting over 12 months.”
“This is something we acknowledge. The Government is committed to improving access to hospital care and reforming and reducing waiting times for patients through a range of measures, including those to increase capacity such as the establishment of surgical hubs. Since 2021, this commitment has been reflected in a series of multi-annual waiting list action plans aimed at sustainably reducing both the number of people waiting and the length of time that they wait. The ultimate aim is to achieve the maximum wait times as set out in the 2017 Sláintecare report of ten weeks for a first outpatient appointment and 12 weeks for an inpatient or day case procedure. The situations outlined by Senator O'Loughlin are far beyond this.”
“I thank the Senator. I absolutely promise I will visit the Curragh. There is no doubt about that whatsoever. We will get it into the diary. I am looking forward to it because it is such a gem of a place. Clearly Senator O'Loughlin is passionate about Naas hospital. She started by saying what a wonderful hospital it is, and I am sure it is a bustling hospital. It has a large population to cater for and we can imagine how important it is. The response I am about to read out will talk about how much we have reduced waiting times but what it probably will not cover is Senator O'Loughlin's knowledge on the ground of instances where people wait too long. I am not speaking out of turn by saying the Government accepts that, as it stands, waiting lists are too long and too many people are waiting too long on waiting lists.”
“We have done great things in terms of increasing access to medical cards and GP visit cards. Sláintecare is slowly edging towards achieving a lot of its goals. Expanding the scheme does seem it would be worth pursuing, if nothing else because the range was defined back in the seventies. I appreciate Senator Lynch raising the matter today.”
“I thank Senator Lynch. She is right; there is no legislative obstacle to expanding the scope of the long-term illness scheme. There is probably no policy obstacle either. The prepared response says there are no plans to extend it, and I hope that is just for the moment. The Senator is right that with a bit of political will and pushing and presenting the case for inclusion of conditions like IBD in the way the Senator has, which makes sense given how debilitating it is, how costly it can be and the impact it has on people's lives, surely it is time for review. Does that potentially open it up for a whole range of other diseases to be included? I do not know, but it is worth pursuing further. At the moment there are no plans but, as we know, in politics things can change, and if we keep the pressure on, it is worth pursuing.”
“These changes impact up to 500,000 people. The reduction in the drugs payment scheme, DPS, threshold, which caps monthly expenditure for approved prescribed medicines, was reduced to €80 euro per month in March 2022. Other measures have been introduced to try to increase accessibility and affordability. It comes back to the main point the Senator made. The long-term illness scheme was developed a long time ago. The prescribed illnesses were decided on decades ago. I appreciate that the prepared response states there is no plan to review that. However, in my view, that would be the prudent thing to do. It is all well and good for me to outline the other supports available, but the Senator is talking about a specific condition that seems to me to merit inclusion. That, of course, is up to the Minister for Health.”
“The group concluded it was not feasible, desirable nor ethically justifiable to list medical conditions in priority order for medical card eligibility. In following the expert group’s advice, a person's means remains the main qualifier for a medical card. However, over the past several years, there has been a significant focus on improving access to, and the affordability of, healthcare services. This has been advanced through the substantial policy, legislation and investment to deliver expanded eligibility and services in line with Sláintecare. Major expansions in eligibility include the removal of public inpatient charges in public hospitals, for children in 2022 and for adults in 2023, and the provision of free GP visit cards to include children aged six and seven and those earning no more than the median income.”
“Eligibility for a medical card is determined by the HSE, primarily based on an assessment of means. The HSE may exercise discretion and grant a medical card, even though an applicant exceeds the income guidelines, where he or she faces difficult financial circumstances, such as extra costs arising from illness, so that is a potential avenue. The HSE affords applicants the opportunity to furnish supporting documentation to determine whether undue hardship exists and fully takes account of all relevant circumstances that may benefit them in assessment, including medical evidence of costs and certain expenses. The issue of providing a patient with medical card eligibility on the basis of illness or disability was previously examined in 2014 by the HSE expert panel on medical need and medical card eligibility.”
“They prescribed 16 conditions to be covered by the scheme, but there have been no additions or deletions to the list since that time. That is a long time and there has been such change to people's health, diets, quality of life and so on. It seems a bit rich and it is high time for a review. That is just me speaking. I will outline the position of the Department of Health. Under the LTI scheme, patients receive drugs, medicines and medical and surgical appliances directly related to the treatment of their illness free of charge. While there are no plans to extend the scope of the scheme, it is important to recognise that the LTI scheme exists within a wider eligibility framework. People who cannot, without undue hardship, arrange for the provision of medical services for themselves and their dependants may be eligible for a medical card.”
“I welcome the national school from County Cork. It is my county. I welcome them to Seanad Éireann. I thank Senator Lynch for raising this important issue. In her contribution she covered it all, including that the long-term illness scheme is dated and has not been updated in a long time. In terms of her hope that the condition would be covered, the best opportunity would be a review. I am answering this on behalf of the Minister for Health. However, from listening to what she said, I think that is the way forward. I will outline some of the supports that are available, which the Senator is already well aware of. She knows all this already. The long-term illness, LTI, scheme was established under section 59 of the Health Act 1970. Regulations were made in 1971, 1973 and 1975.”
“That sets it out clearly, but we will certainly get more feedback about whether it is appropriate for the letter to be on local authority headed paper as the Senator said it was. We will try to find out more.”
“Without knowing the exact details of the case, I can say from the way it was presented that if a parent, in this instance a woman, is struggling with rent arrears, it must be dealt with in the most sensitive manner. First, the different scenarios and potential ways in which the rent arrears can be addressed should be worked through. That should be the first port of call. The blunt issuing of a letter addressed to a child, in this instance a ten-year-old, does not make any sense. Like Senator Ruane, I hope this is an anomaly. We will try to find out and get a bit more detail. However, even the response I just gave clearly sets out that rent arrears is not an excuse and does not trigger a letter to a child as happened in this case.”