Mr. Bob Jordan:

Threshold's submission focused exclusively on the rent supplement scheme, which has been cut successively since 2009, by up to 30% for some people in receipt it. Tenants have also had to make increased contributions. When the last cuts were introduced in January 2012, there were three things that the Minister, Deputy Burton, and the Department of Social Protection said which have proven not to be true. The first was that nobody would become homeless because of these cuts. However, day in and day out, we see people who have been put at risk of homelessness and have ended up in homeless services. Others have ended up sleeping in their cars, or in such fear of homelessness that they have grabbed the nearest sub-standard accommodation to hand.

The second thing we were told was that rent supplement cuts would drive rents down because the Department of Social Protection is such a big player in the market. That has not happened either. Rents are going up for supply and demand reasons. Essentially, the private rented sector came to a standstill in 2007-08 when the housing crash occurred. There was an oversupply for a while but we are now into a housing shortage situation. In addition, demand for private rented accommodation has gone up. It now includes everybody who is looking for new accommodation, whether or not they are working, and those who can no longer afford to buy homes.

The third thing we were told was that landlords would reduce rent payments like they had before but they are not doing so. They are choosing working people over those in receipt of rent supplement and they are asking tenants to pay top-ups. In many situations, because many of these landlords are in arrears with their banks, they are being told they cannot reduce their rent payments.

We have a situation whereby the poorest people in the country who live in the rented sector are being displaced from their homes into poor standard accommodation, into homelessness and outside the area in which their families live. We are asking the Minister not to touch rent supplement again in the forthcoming budget.