Kathleen Funchion (Carlow-Kilkenny, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Housing Agency for its presentation. Its document is very good and very concise. I have a few questions on the mortgage-to-rent scheme, which I raised on Tuesday. From a lot of my dealings with people trying to qualify for the scheme, I am aware that there are huge difficulties around red tape, paperwork and people being told that their houses are too big. It could be a couple whose family have grown up and moved on, who live in a three-bed house and have been told they cannot qualify for the scheme because of that, which makes absolutely no sense. What is Mr. Skehan's opinion on that? A lot of people who could qualify are falling through the cracks because of really stupid things like that. It is not as if they are living in a mansion.

The recommendation in the document for State support to households that do not qualify for social housing support is a good idea, but what we really need to do is to challenge the banks when people have mortgage difficulties and ensure they are negotiating with them and sitting down with them, because a lot of the problem is that sometimes the banks will not talk to people. I deal with people on a regular basis who are willing to pay, in many cases, a considerable amount of the mortgage. It is a good suggestion but we need to be careful that we do not let the banks off the hook in that regard. Mortgage-to-rent needs to be looked at because an awful lot of people who are going onto the housing list now are going on it because of repossession, and it is increasing homelessness.