Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

Yes, that is what people are looking for, namely, that there be no impediments. I can understand why local authorities would try to make sure they would not be financially exposed, but it should be possible to work through it internally.

I wish to focus on the various schemes in terms of value for money achieved. Has the Department examined, for example, the HAP scheme over the lifetime of a typical mortgage of about 30 years? I refer to building, as opposed to rental. Rents are very high, but I hope they will not continue to stay at that level. The HAP scheme seems to be a very expensive and unsustainable approach. What background work has been done in that regard?

There were approximately 10,500 subsidised leases in 2018, which breaks down at 22 leases for every new build in the country. According to an article in Villagemagazine, penned by Mel Reynolds who has been very vocal on the issue of housing, a subsidised lease is twice as costly as a local authority new build on State land.

Would the Department look at that aspect of it from a value for money perspective? Has the Department done any work on that or carried out an actuarial assessment of the various schemes including the housing assistance payment, HAP, the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and leasing arrangements? If we are looking for value for money, we need to have those comparators and if that work is already done, it would be very useful for us to have a look at it.