My first question at  this month’s (18th April)  Municipal District meeting, ‘ Given previous concerns about governance of local Approved Housing Bodies which were sufficient to trigger a national audit approximately three years ago, can the council reassure members that the recommendations of both the national and local audit committees referencing Approved Housing Bodies in the municipal district have been fully implemented, in particular, each of the thirteen recommendations under the following eight headings:

• Registration of Mortgage,
• Nominations and Statement of Occupancy,
• Inspections,
• Record of Meetings,
• Corporate Governance,
• Financial Matters,
• Leasing Arrangements
• and Capital Projects.

Here is the report issued by Ms S Scully, Administrative Officer, Housing: The role of Kildare County Council is to (a) ensure Approved Housing Bodies (AHB) compliance with funding schemes, (b) enter into new Payment and Availability agreements, Capital Advance and Leasing facility agreements and provide funding under the Capital Assistance Scheme (c) enforce the conditions of mortgage agreements (d) ensure AHB compliance with tenant nomination policies.
In a recent progress report to the Local Government Audit Service on VFM Report No. 29, Kildare County Council reported either full or partial compliance on 23 of the 26 recommendations contained in the original report. An Acting Staff Officer was recently appointed to the Leasing Section and the focus of their role will be on completing retrospective work relating to outstanding items raised by both the national and local audit. Kildare County Council confirms that it withholds Management and Maintenance subsidies from AHBs who do not comply with annual compliance requirements.