frustration has been expressed towards the Minister for Housing following what has been described as the ‘failure’ to produce a report on the review of the Tenant Purchase Scheme.
Fianna Fáil TD for Donegal, Charlie McConalogue, said promises had been made earlier this year that the report would be published ‘shortly.’
Deputy McConalogue said: “I raised this matter in the Dáil in June of this year, but when no report was published, I raised it again last week and was exasperated to be given almost word for word, the exact same reply I received in June.
“On that occasion, the Minister promised the report would be published but last week’s response from the Minister shows there is no clear plan to actually publish the report.
“It has been now well over two years since the review of the Tenant Purchase Scheme was completed, but since then the government has been dragging its heels on the matter,’ McConalogue said.
“The very fact that the review has been finished for so long but appears to have lay gathering dust on the Minister’s desk since then, is a clear indication that the Minister and the government, have no grasp of how many people are still anxiously awaiting the publication of the review.
“The scheme was reintroduction but quickly found that a number of people were barred from entering the scheme due to its rigid criteria.
“In the majority of cases, they were refused due to the fact their only source of income was social welfare. However, often the applicants were old-age pensioners who want to own the house they have made their home,” he added.
“They were barred from the scheme despite the fact they had amassed lifelong savings to support the purchase of their home.
“The response from the Minister is an insult to those hopeful the review might bring about changes to the scheme to allow them to buy out their home.
“The report is ready for publication and there is no reason for further delays from the Minister at this stage. I will continue to press the Minister to publish this report immediately and afford local authority tenants in these situations the opportunity to make their home their own,” concluded Deputy McConalogue.
