Katherine Zappone (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 18:

In page 50, between lines 11 and 12, to insert the following:“(4) The Minister shall, following consultation with the Joint Oireachtas Committee responsible for housing, by regulations make provision for a housing authority to amend an allocation scheme to individual households, which would enable housing assistance recipients to access other forms of social housing support through a transfer list policy that will reflect the specific priority that the household had on the main waiting list within the authority area in which they are resident, and for related matters.”.

Senator Mac Conghail and I tabled this amendment on the foot of concerns Senator Mac Conghail raised in particular during his Second Stage speech with regard to section 37 and a lot of the kerfuffle surrounding it, which of course raised the issue of clarity as to whether people who were moved to the HAP scheme still would be able to access social housing should they so need. We have read carefully the back-and-forth regarding many of the Minister of State's comments in this regard, both in the Dáil and her response in her Second Stage speech. To clarify, the Minister of State has stated people will be moved from the housing list to a transfer list and still will have the potential to access social housing, should they require it.
That comment is by way of preface but having said all that and being at this point in moving towards the passage of the Bill, I still have received many statements of concerns from people with whom I have worked in Tallaght. At this stage, it appears as though there still is confusion with regard to whether people still will be retained on some list - in this case it obviously is the transfer list the Minister has indicated - and in being so retained, whether people somehow still will have a similar place within that list as they had on the original housing list. These concerns were submitted to me in respect of a document from that community, from which I wish to read one or two things that indicate what I am saying here. The Minister of State first should be aware that people perceive many benefits to what is happening here and it is not all negative or criticism. According to the document given to me, the benefits include that full benefit will be paid by the local authority directly to the landlords and not by welfare. People perceive this to be a benefit, as is the fact that the tenant will pay the differential rent directly to the local authority and will be able to work full-time while in receipt of housing assistance. That is all wonderful and great. However, the negative aspects reported are that the tenant will be removed from the housing list, will be denied secure long-term housing and will be left at the mercy of the private rental market. Moreover, it also is noted that tenants will lose their place on the housing list, which could provide them with a home for life together with a possibility to buy property if one's circumstances change and that some tenants have been on an housing list for years and that this will be wiped clean once the Bill comes into play.
I have heard the Minister of State saying this is not the case, that she is guaranteeing it will not be the case and that she will make regulations subsequent to the passage of this Bill to assure people they still will have a similar place on a transfer list. The amendment Senator Mac Conghail and I tabled and I now have moved is simply to suggest the Minister of State would place within the Bill her commitment to make those regulations that would enable the housing assistance recipients to access other forms of social housing support through a transfer list that will reflect the specific priority the household had on the main waiting list. In this amendment, we took some of the language the Minister of State used in her speeches where she stated she would do that and wished to do that. Our amendment proposes that this be inserted into the Bill as it stands, as well as adding that aspect to act with consultation with the appropriate Oireachtas committee.