Brendan Ryan (Dublin Fingal, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the three groups for coming in, sharing their insights with us and making many recommendations. Mr. Dunne opened by referring to the supply issue. Certainly what we have today is a crisis of supply, be it in private houses or social housing. We have a housing strategy in place from the outgoing Government, which is going to deliver some houses in 18 months to two years. Witnesses have talked about preventative measures as well - that we have to prevent people becoming homelessness - but it is the people who are homeless who we need to provide with housing solutions. Have any of the three groups ideas about how to fast-track much-needed supply? We are all agreed on the long-term stuff - that we need to change things. We can look back and say things were not done properly and we are where we are but what we need from groups like those represented by the witnesses are some ideas in terms of how they can help us fast-track those kind of solutions.

One of the first things many of the NGOs say is that we have to increase rent supplement across the board. I do not share that view. As a practitioner who holds eight clinics every week, from Balbriggan to Swords, in areas with a housing crisis, the kind of person who comes into my clinic is somebody who is about to be made homeless and is looking for a place to stay. The problem is that he or she cannot find a place to stay or to rent. Irrespective of the caps, I know that if he or she finds a place, the community welfare officer has the flexibility to go beyond the caps. This has been, and is, happening. That is what I see. I also see situations where people are in accommodation and the landlord wants to put up the rent and I know the community welfare officer will have the flexibility to meet that increased demand. Where the need for increased rent supplement exists, it is supplied, so why in the name of God would we increase the rent caps for the other 70,000 people for whom there is no pressure to put them up? That would not be a great use of resources.