Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

We would all agree that regulation is necessary not just from the point of view of securing private funding, but from the point of view of tenant rights. I have encountered informal arrangements that worked for neither side. It is important that there be certainty. This is what regulation would bring.

We have a crisis on our hands, given the extent of the housing waiting list. It is difficult to know what the system's capacity is, as we do not know how much private funding can be leveraged. However, are there indications of that capacity?

I will go all over the place with my questions, so the witnesses might pick the ones that are appropriate to them. I will not take too long.

Obviously, only a fraction of the €500 million in available lending has been drawn down. One always questions why this is the case. From where does the 20% on the other side come? Is the general government deficit part of the problem? Is there an impediment to providing the other 20%?

A proportion of the loan books comprises borrowings on the basis of shared ownership. One need not be a genius to figure out that there are problems with getting the agreement of the other parties. Will it present a particular difficulty? Are there risks, given the potential number of distressed borrowers?

I presume that the witnesses count rent assistance when calculating State assistance. Some €3 out of every €10 in private rent is funded by the State. Are the fictional costs that the Department claims exist counted? I know no one who does not top up on rent assistance. The difficulty lies in the fact that market rents are often much higher. This causes problems for people, as they must make additional payments out of their social welfare payments, etc.

There is a perception of cherry-picking. I am aware of people who have been taken off the waiting list out of sequence. The perception is that the most difficult or least well managed housing estates are local authority estates, in that they have a disproportionate number of people who, to use a certain language, have been rejected by a number of housing associations. How can this situation be better managed?

My final question is on the housing associations' social mix. Such a mix is beneficial and can be useful, in that it provides an income stream that can make housing viable as well as social dividends.

The witnesses might tell us how they see that in terms of the scale of people who would not be on the waiting list.