Mr. Tommy Ryan:

In regard to the cap on the rent supplement, the effect it has depends on supply and demand. For parts of County Roscommon – the smaller rural villages - the cap is not a problem but in the areas located nearer to urban centres such as Roscommon town and Monksland, which is on the outskirts of Athlone, it is impossible to get accommodation for the level of rent provided for in the rent supplement.

For example, we have to rent houses from the private sector under the rental accommodation scheme. We cannot obtain houses for less than the cap set out in the rent supplement and we have to pay in excess of it when we go to the market or we will not get houses for our tenants. There must be a revision of the cap on rent supplement under the housing assistance payment, HAP.

In terms of acquisition versus new build, that depends again on where the houses are located and if they are in a suitable location. In a county like Roscommon that has a large geographic spread – it is approximately 60 miles from north to south and 40 miles from east to west – sometimes where the houses are available for sale does not correspond to the location of our housing applicants. Acquisition rather than new build might not solve the problem. One needs both approaches. If one is to have a capital programme for the provision of housing, one needs to develop a construction programme as well as an acquisition programme. I accept it will take longer to get the construction programme up and running but if one plans it in time, it will be successful.

Homelessness is not a major issue in Roscommon but we work very closely with the other agencies, in particular with community welfare officers. We can sort matters out fairly quickly for anyone presenting as homeless in Roscommon in terms of providing private rented accommodation. The main issue that arises is emergency accommodation for a few nights. I do not know if that covers everything that was asked.