Mr. Mike Allen:

In regard to NAMA, I think we have done very well to get this far without having mentioned NAMA. In regard to the social dividend to be delivered by NAMA, in my view, there was an exaggerated expectation in terms of what it could deliver and, therefore, disappointment. Everything that involves NAMA takes an enormous amount of time. Ms Faughnan referred earlier to the additional units in Tallaght which were supposed to be opened last month. Another month on, there have been further delays in relation to the Tallaght issue, which is related to the points made by Deputies in relation to properties elsewhere. There is a need for greater oversight by Government of what NAMA has and how it could be utilised. More could be done on that than has been done. Focus Ireland and the Peter McVerry Trust are housing associations as opposed to housing agencies. Focus Ireland has approval from the Housing Finance Agency but has not yet drawn down any of that funding. As stated by Mr. Balbirnie, we have a significant plan to deliver our own housing. However, it will be only a small contribution to the overall picture.

Reference was made to the difference in perspective between us and the Department of Social Protection. The strongest argument put forward by the Minister and the Department is that any increase in the rent supplement threshold will result in increased inflation. There are two responses to that. First, there is no evidence of that. I have looked at the economics of supply and demand. If one looks at what the Department has done, it is quite clear there is no correlation in that there has been a 20% to 40% increase in rents and no increase in rent supplement. In making a policy decision which has enormous consequences for people, one requires evidence. Second, this is not what is set down in the legislation enacted by the Oireachtas. That legislation does not make any reference to "with awareness of the housing market", rather it provides that the maximum must relate to a person's need to provide accommodation for themselves. There should be much closer scrutiny by the Oireachtas of the Department of Social Protection in this matter.

On the point made by Deputy Ryan, we are not saying that an increase in rent supplement would solve the problem. One cannot as an advocate acknowledge a policy that does not solve the entire problem because the immediate response is always that there is no point bothering and so on. An increase in the rent supplement threshold would make a significant difference. There is a shortage of housing but the people who will be homeless next month and the month after already have a house. Some 30% of the people who will become homeless next month and the month after will lose their homes because the rent supplement levels are not high enough. We all may lament the fact that they have not contacted Threshold or had a chat with a community welfare officer, but the fact is that is not happening. It is a systematic problem. Rent supplement has not followed the legislation or the will of the Oireachtas and the result is that a significant number of vulnerable people are ending up homeless. That is a direct outcome of the policy position that has been taken on this issue.

It needs to be recognised by the Houses of the Oireachtas that one of the dozens of things that needs to be done is to deal with maximum threshold for rent supplement. It will not resolve the majority of cases, but it is the single biggest step that could be taken to resolve it and to allow us as organisations to get back to working together on the other issues that we need to be combining on.