Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

This is crucially important because they know better than anyone what is the level of supply and demand in their areas. They deal with the matter every day. There are differences, based on geographic or city location, as to the amounts that may be given. They relate to, say, rents in a city versus rents in a rural area. However, one of the key things I feel could make a significant difference is looking again at the rent-a-room scheme. The rent-a-room scheme is where people, usually just one individual, have a spare room in their primary residence. They rent out the room and can have a tax free income of €12,000 per annum from that rent. Second, the people who pay the rent can write it off against their tax liabilities.

There are issues with the scheme. For example, a couple cannot do it because the person must be living alone. There are issues around social welfare payments. There are issues depending on whether a person has a contributory or a non-contributory old age pension. What I am really asking is whether we could expand the availability of the room-to-rent scheme in the sector generally. Could we look at the rules and how they might change? I do not know who is the expert on this, but I presume the Department of Social Protection may have a view on it. The other important point that comes in here is that, at the moment, I could bring in my nephew or my niece and he or she could get rent allowance to live in my home. However, there is no payment for my son or my daughter. A question arises. If the room or space is there - so we are not talking about overcrowded conditions - and as an exceptional measure only for a limited period of time, would it be possible for an existing family member to be in that situation? Is that possible? Could we it at that as an option? It is certainly worth examining.