Advertisement

We need your help now

Support from readers like you keeps The Journal open.

You are visiting us because we have something you value. Independent, unbiased news that tells the truth. Advertising revenue goes some way to support our mission, but this year it has not been enough.

If you've seen value in our reporting, please contribute what you can, so we can continue to produce accurate and meaningful journalism. For everyone who needs it.

Housing Minister Darragh O'Brien Photocall Ireland

Housing Minister: Report of two properties acquired under Govt scheme 'doesn't tell full story'

Last week, The Journal reported that just two properties have been acquired since April under a scheme designed to keep people facing evictions in their homes.

HOUSING MINISTER DARRAGH O’Brien has accused Sinn Féin’s Eoin Ó Broin of being “disingenuous” with his criticism of the Government’s action on housing and said reporting of certain figures “does not tell the full story”.

Last week, The Journal reported that just two properties have been acquired since April under a scheme designed to keep people facing evictions in their homes.

Speaking to The Journal, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said criticism of the scheme was unfair and argued that many sales processes are ongoing.

The cost rental tenant in situ scheme was introduced by the Government earlier this year after it lifted the temporary ban on evictions that had been in place. It is directed towards households who are renting a property and facing eviction, but who are not eligible for social housing supports like the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) or the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS).

Figures released to Sinn Féin’s housing spokesperson Eoin Ó Broin under the Freedom of Information Act showed that just two purchases have been finalised under the scheme since April.

The figures showed that in total, 152 referrals to the scheme have been made to the Housing Agency from local authorities and other sources with 130 assessed so far by the agency.

Speaking to The Journal, Housing Minister Darragh O’Brien said criticism of the scheme “does not tell the full story”.

“The criticism of it from the main opposition spokesperson on housing is really disingenuous. Really, really disingenuous, because it does not tell the full story,” O’Brien said. 

“I can give you an example of that, earlier in the year, the Sinn Féin spokesperson came in and said we’d only bought 14 homes in Dublin through the Tenant in Situ scheme. Made a big play on this.

“We’re actually going to exceed 1,500 this year, we are close to 2,000. And actually, he knew when he was saying it that when you’re actually purchasing a home, it goes through a conveyancing process but it didn’t suit his narrative. 

“So what I would just say to Deputy Ó Broin and others is, at least tell people the truth,” O’Brien said.

“Someone knows when they’re purchasing a house there’s a time that it takes to conclude the legals. What’s really important is the tenancies are secured,” O’Brien said.

The Minister pointed out that the Tenant in Situ scheme (which differs to the Cost Rental Tenant in Situ scheme mentioned above) has seen close to 900 homes purchased so far with another 600 or 700 in the sale agreed process.

Under the Tenant in Situ scheme, if you are a social housing tenant and your private landlord wants to sell the home you are renting, the local authority can buy the home and you can continue to rent it from the local authority instead. 

“Those tenancies are secured now. They just have to go through the legals, you don’t do it in one day. Ó Broin knows that, but doesn’t want to tell people that. And they’re crucially important. So that’s the real figure,” O’Brien said.

The minister said it was “the same” case with the Cost Rental Tenant in Situ scheme which has had over 150 referrals despite just two acquisitions. 

“So actually coming in and saying only two have been purchased is actually deliberately misleading,” he said.

Responding to this, Ó Broin told The Journal that he put the figures into the public domain in good faith and pointed out that all of the figures relevant to the scheme – not just the two acquisition figures – were published. 

“What we are hearing both from landlords and tenants is this scheme is not working as effectively as it could be. So rather than dismiss the very honest sharing of the figures we put into the public domain, the minister should act on the criticisms of the scheme and improve it,” he said.

Ó Broin said he is “very concerned” at the low level of referrals to the scheme (152 so far) and explained that his main criticism of it is that it is too cumbersome for tenants and that not enough people know about it.

“Many of the people eligible for it don’t have a relationship with the Local Authority and wouldn’t instinctively think to go to Local Authority,” Ó Broin said.

He added that information on the scheme is “very hard to find” and said:

“We need a much more nimble and accessible scheme.” 

Readers like you are keeping these stories free for everyone...
A mix of advertising and supporting contributions helps keep paywalls away from valuable information like this article. Over 5,000 readers like you have already stepped up and support us with a monthly payment or a once-off donation.

Close
56 Comments
This is YOUR comments community. Stay civil, stay constructive, stay on topic. Please familiarise yourself with our comments policy here before taking part.
Leave a Comment
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Eric Cosgrove
    Favourite Eric Cosgrove
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 2:36 PM

    These people have some F#%$^ing Neck

    139
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jay funk
    Favourite Jay funk
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 5:57 PM

    The need a big neck to hang the gold chains off, just like B.A.

    25
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kathleen O Toole Tighe
    Favourite Kathleen O Toole Tighe
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 3:03 PM

    Couldn’t be happier for her
    Did she really think the judge would believe her when she said she hadn’t a clue ,
    About time she got her comeuppance !

    117
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Declan Carroll
    Favourite Declan Carroll
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 6:00 PM

    They have necks like a jockey’s b*llix -

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Gary Keegan
    Favourite Gary Keegan
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 2:54 PM

    Not according to the dumb fooks in Cavan who are still defending what this man has done. The poor Quinn’s railroaded by the government and NAMA.

    115
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Spillinksuz
    Favourite Spillinksuz
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 2:36 PM

    I’d say some how Mrs Quinn will just fine

    111
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Réada Quinn
    Favourite Réada Quinn
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 3:18 PM

    Delighted! Silly woman using the “stupid woman card”. Won’t wash anymore. Ireland’s waking from our slumber. All of us !!!

    97
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rommel Burke
    Favourite Rommel Burke
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 3:07 PM

    Damn. I was hoping to use the old “I’m thick as sh**e, and the wife put fierce pressure on me to get a mortgage” line myself.
    Ah well, suppose i’ll have to try and pay it back now like the Quinns no doubt will……………..

    94
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cormac Flanagan
    Favourite Cormac Flanagan
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 4:34 PM

    Ya was hoping to use it myself to get out of the mortgage. She’s ruined it for all of us.

    51
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Glyn Carragher
    Favourite Glyn Carragher
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 10:10 PM

    No Ive just checked and it appears that Mrs Quinn did in fact sign as a guarantor for my loan to buy Italy … whaooo!

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Bazza
    Favourite Bazza
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 3:55 PM

    I have been unemployed for almost a year.

    I got a ‘dear john’ today on a role I put a lot of time and work into getting.

    I am feeling low today and a bit emotional.

    Im not normally into Schadenfreude, but I cannot tell you have much this has lifted my spirits

    90
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute William O'Shea
    Favourite William O'Shea
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 6:59 PM

    Hope things pick up for ya……….. Truth is this judgement probably wiped the schadenfreude smile from Her mush!

    22
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Shane Brehony
    Favourite Shane Brehony
    Report
    Dec 17th 2011, 12:35 PM

    What kind of a donkey can put thumbs down to comments like this .

    2
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute ged_star
    Favourite ged_star
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 3:20 PM

    Great news, now all we have to do is nail all the other f**kers that ruined the country, including politicians.

    88
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Jammy Mason
    Favourite Jammy Mason
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 4:29 PM

    That would make it a very happy Christmas for all of us :-)

    41
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Tony Stanley
    Favourite Tony Stanley
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 2:52 PM

    Delighted for her! So much for that additional ivory back scratcher!

    87
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute John Murray
    Favourite John Murray
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 4:12 PM

    She won’t pay a penny!! But the 67 year old lady after her in court would get 14 days in mountjoy for not having a tv license!!

    79
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute jason bourne
    Favourite jason bourne
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 4:49 PM

    No She will not… Stop this myth of people getting Mountjoy over tv licences

    29
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Noddy Mooney
    Favourite Noddy Mooney
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 6:09 PM

    Don’t pay the lesser fee of 100 euro household tax and you’ll get prison.

    31
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Manfred Meyer
    Favourite Manfred Meyer
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 3:21 PM

    The mind boggles.
    Was Sean Quinn married to a bimbo?
    I very much doubt that.

    64
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rodger O Waters
    Favourite Rodger O Waters
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 3:40 PM

    He wishes,

    42
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ed Appleby
    Favourite Ed Appleby
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 4:21 PM

    Pleading ignorance is no defence for Mrs Quinn, she was more than happy to live well off the proceeds of her husbands ‘undue earnings’. The woman’s whinging is enough to make you puke given the amount of money, property and other valuables this particular family have in their possession and that’s only the wealth we actually know about, you can be sure there are plenty of hidden assets and offshore accounts squirrelled away out of the reach of any Irish banks or govt. agencies How many Quinn assets are in the names of his children, grandchildren etc? This Quinn woman won’t be worrying about where her christmas dinner is coming from this year unlike many others in Ireland whose husbands didn’t gamble on casino banks and take punts on developments that turned into turkeys!

    54
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Adam Magari
    Favourite Adam Magari
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 3:23 PM

    Some would say that undue influence has been the root of the country’s problems for many years.

    48
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Stephen Pluck
    Favourite Stephen Pluck
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 4:34 PM

    No business knowledge but a director of over 90 companies…. Pull the other one there love

    47
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Anthony Harland
    Favourite Anthony Harland
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 5:15 PM

    Director of 63 Irish companies, 28 UK companies and a company secretary in 10 but God bless her she still doesn’t even have a basic knowledge of business matters. Ah bless, is there some charity I can donate to so that she can get a bit of an education. Such a sad story and so close to Christmas too….some neck on her!

    44
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kerry Blake
    Favourite Kerry Blake
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 3:10 PM

    Happy days :-)

    44
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Kevin McCarthy
    Favourite Kevin McCarthy
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 4:43 PM

    She could maybe now do a bit of stand up comedy. Great material there. Then maybe a tour and a Fringe festival slot.

    33
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Cormac Flanagan
    Favourite Cormac Flanagan
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 5:06 PM

    She does need the money

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Ryan Murphy
    Favourite Ryan Murphy
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 5:31 PM

    Any of Seanie (why are they all called Sean?) Quinn’s valiant defenders about, now that he has taken to hiding behind his wife?

    32
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Siobhan Ni Fhaolain
    Favourite Siobhan Ni Fhaolain
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 4:22 PM

    Nice try! Close…. But no cigar!!!

    19
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Dee Ferry Kennedy
    Favourite Dee Ferry Kennedy
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 8:37 PM

    Merry Christmas now let’s get the rest of the bastards starting at the top

    17
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute michael cuthbert
    Favourite michael cuthbert
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 6:48 PM

    Interesting. Is this the first court case where one of the super-rich has been found against? A woman (silly trying to play the blond defence), not directly involved in amassing a fortune. Misogyny?

    15
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute vv7k7Z3c
    Favourite vv7k7Z3c
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 6:59 PM

    Are you excluding her super-rich husband who was the subject of a €1.6bn order against the same bank only a few weeks ago?

    12
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute William O'Shea
    Favourite William O'Shea
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 7:21 PM

    I concur one hundred percent with this judgement…….. but I suspect for a female in a patriarchal FF home only one opinion prevails……….

    11
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank Buffets
    Favourite Frank Buffets
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 7:10 PM

    First we had declaring bankrupt in northern Ireland and now this. One can only imagine Sean Quinn frantically transferring all the family assets further down the chain of family members. Ah bless, at least the solicitors will get a nice Christmas bonus.

    10
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Graham Gallagher
    Favourite Graham Gallagher
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 10:54 PM

    Neck like a jockeys on mrs quinn!

    7
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Titus d
    Favourite Titus d
    Report
    Dec 17th 2011, 2:09 AM

    Mrs Quinn will need to start a few house cleaning jobs to pay it back

    6
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Frank2521
    Favourite Frank2521
    Report
    Dec 16th 2011, 10:54 PM

    Call Bertie for a dig out – he is doing well now on the horses I hear.

    4
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Paraic Conlon
    Favourite Paraic Conlon
    Report
    Dec 17th 2011, 3:35 AM

    Good bless her , ” I didnt know wat I was signing” 3 million are you fuc@ing serious, wat bout my mortgage, if I told the judge I didn’t know wat I was signing at the time wat would he say, he would say tough shite keep paying

    3
    Install the app to use these features.
    Mute Rommel Burke
    Favourite Rommel Burke
    Report
    Dec 17th 2011, 10:19 AM

    Or probably find us in contempt of court! My 9 year old comes up with more believable excuses ffs!

    3
Submit a report
Please help us understand how this comment violates our community guidelines.
Thank you for the feedback
Your feedback has been sent to our team for review.

Leave a commentcancel

 
JournalTv
News in 60 seconds