Dr. Barra Roantree:

My area of research is tax, welfare and pension systems. I will leave the easy questions Deputy Boyd Barrett asked to my colleague, Dr. O'Toole. The Deputy mentioned the income thresholds to qualify for social housing. They are set just at the cliff-edge in order that if somebody passes them, he or she will no longer qualify. That is the perverse effect of setting thresholds at the cliff edge, of which there are many in the tax and welfare systems. In a way, the HAP scheme was an attempt to try to get away from this in the sense that it was getting rid of the cliff-edge threshold of 30 hours a week that applied to the rent supplement scheme. It is recognised that setting thresholds at the cliff edge has a disincentivising effect.