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

There is. I spoke to others about this. I will come back to the Department with the facts. One principal point where Ms Nic Aongusa is absolutely wrong, with respect, is that the facts were not presented to the Minister because the Minister, in the case of County Louth, did not see the documentation even though it met at least one of the criteria but he saw at least one other area that met none of the criteria. I am not being personal or critical. If the facts are fairly presented to the Minister, Louth would have been the 16th of those. It was excluded. I am not laying blame. That is merely a fact.

To go back to the rents, part of the problem is that if I am renting a flat in Drogheda, Dundalk or Ardee, what happens is the landlord tells me that he or she is putting up my rent, for example, by €200 a month, and I can take it or leave it. Unfortunately, the tenant has to take it because there are no other houses. There is no other supply. The Department talks about the increasing supply. There is no supply. There is nothing coming on the market and therefore, rents are going ever upwards. That is the problem in County Louth. There is no supply. There is increasing demand. There is massive exploitation of tenants in rent increases.

I appreciate the Department might want to wait until June to review this damn thing. That is far too long. Ms Nic Aongusa states it is six months. It is six months of hell for those who cannot get a place and if they are renting a place, they will be thrown out of it. They are living in fear. They are coming into my office - I do not know about that of my colleague here from Wicklow - in fear. They do not know what to do.

On the core of the issue, I will ask a direct question. If the Government, in its wisdom, decides to increase housing assistance payments, HAPs, for poor families, should that be a criterion? In other words, the greater housing assistance payment for the category of person should be included in the assessment of whether it should be a rent pressure zone because by increasing the support for poor families, the Department is accepting that these have a greater need, they cannot afford the rents and the Department is giving them a greater subsidy. Should that not be part of the formula? Should that not change?