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

I find that the HAP scheme is working extremely well in circumstances where people can get properties. It is giving an opportunity to families who could not otherwise afford the huge rents that are being demanded. I note that rents are continuing to increase. While these are not official departmental figures, Daft.ieshows that rents in County Louth rose by almost 17% in the last year. In that context, I particularly welcome the decision to designate Drogheda as a rent pressure zone. Is there any other funding available to help people in particularly difficult circumstances? I do not want to get into the specifics of any case but sometimes people are homeless because of issues in their past lives which could involve significant debt to another local authority, for example. Some people with young families may have a debt that they cannot discharge which means that they cannot even get onto the housing list. Perhaps funding could be made available in exceptional circumstances like those I have described. I am not suggesting that such funding would be easily available but perhaps exceptions could be made when there are very young children involved.

I am dealing with a case whereby somebody is sleeping in a car. We have approached the community welfare officer, the county council and so on. The families of a small number of people are at risk because they cannot get the housing assistance payment, HAP. Somebody sent me a message, describing how difficult her life is. I know that this is an exceptional case.