RAS housing delays
Deputy Fitzmaurice asked whether the rental accommodation scheme had changed, citing long delays and poor council communication for owners trying to sell homes. The Tánaiste said he was not aware of a policy change and would pass the details to the Housing Minister.
I have a query. Has there been a change to the rental accommodation scheme, RAS? I have been contacted by a few people who bought a house and they wanted to sell it. They went through all the procedures 100% correctly, gave proper notice and everything. It appears to be happening with Galway City Council a lot. The council went through all the procedures and there is a timeline of eight or ten months. It has gone on for a year and now the council will not answer emails. The owner of the house does not know what is happening because they wanted to sell their house and the council will not respond to them, which is an usual situation. We have heard this a few times and I am wondering is there some change in thinking or legislation that would have affected RAS?
Comment on this
Truthfully, there has not been a change I am aware of but obviously, the Deputy is seeing a reality in the system in terms of the cases he has outlined. I will send a transcript of what Deputy said to the Minister for housing and ask that he looks at it and comes back to the Deputy directly.
Comment on this
I can send on details.