Labour Councillor Billy Cameron has expressed his "alarm and concern" at the prospect of a rent arrears controller with Galway City Council being made redundant.

Billy Cameron.

At present two people are employed as rent arrears controllers. They engage and liaise with tenants of social housing with regard to rent arrears whether the arrears have accumulated through misunderstanding or through the provision of insufficient information.

Cllr Cameron said he could not understand a redundancy being made "in this vital area".

"It is often the case that a visit from the arrears controller to the tenant's home raises awareness that something has gone wrong and the correct rent is not being received by the council.

"There are many reasons and causes which can give rise to such situations. For example, the non provision of full information can lead to a tenant being put on maximum rent.

"However, a face to face discussion can bring about a resolution in an amicable manner and an agreement can be arrived at where necessary," he said.

He said he was amazed that the city council was about to undermine a "reliable method" of solving these problems, and pointed out that the city has a growing problem whereby people in social housing may have problems with language and/or literacy.

The council's current rent arrears stand at €1.6 million, "a figure which is somewhat inflated but nevertheless substantial given the fact that some tenants would be on maximum rent due to the non provision of sufficient information," said Cllr Cameron.

"As a social housing provider, it is incumbent on the council to behave in a user friendly and cost effective manner.

"Those functions should be carried out by council staff and legal intervention should only be used in extreme cases and as a last resort, as it is an expensive waste of tax payers money.

"My major fear is that this diminution could eventually lead to these functions being be carried out by an external agency."

Cllr Cameron is calling on the director of services and the city manager to make a statement on this matter.

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