Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I spoke about the housing assistance payment at length earlier on. It is there to complement what we are doing in relation to build. There is too much dependence on HAP today but that dependence will decrease. However, there will always be a need for HAP because individuals like the flexibility it offers around where they can live and from a social housing policy point of view, it allows us to secure a mix of tenure in existing stock where we do not have it or in new stock as it is built if that stock consists, for example, of apartments. It plays a very positive role. The top-ups to which Deputy Boyd Barrett referred are being met by the local authorities in many instances because we have given them the flexibility to do so. Local authorities are meant to carry out assessments to ensure that where top-ups are being met by individuals that it does not put them at risk of being unable to meet their bills or make other payments. Where that does happen, however, we are looking at initiatives and interventions we can make around arrears to ensure people do not find themselves in housing insecurity because of affordability issues where they are living.

Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to income thresholds. As I said in earlier contributions, the Housing Agency is looking at this and a review is under way. I want to make a number of social housing reforms now that the stock is increasing. I hope I will be able to bring the reforms forward as a single package so that we can have one major discussion around differential rents and other aspects of social housing policy at the same time. We are working towards that. In addition, for those who will never qualify for social housing even when the income thresholds change, if they do, the affordability programme is in place. It is why we are no longer saying as a Government that we will just have a social housing programme where if one qualifies, that is fine but if one does not, we wish him or her good luck. We recognise the views of citizens all over Europe and in many modern cities are changing as to what responsibility the State has around the provision of housing. It is no longer about just social housing, emergency accommodation and nothing else. In fact, it is about looking after a middle group of people who might never be able to afford to live or rent near where they work, in particular in urban areas, unless we make the interventions we are making now. We are responding. First, we responded with rent caps and now we are responding with affordable housing and cost rental. We will continue to respond with measures around land such as we are doing with the Land Development Agency so that we can have mixed housing development in desirable areas where there is high demand.