Ms Ann-Marie O'Reilly:

In respect of differential rents, I would not necessarily say there are any hotspots or major issues appearing. There are some local authority areas in which the differential income is approximately 10% of a person's income while in a neighbouring local authority it could be 16%, 17% or 18%. Whether a person is on a small income or a big income, that is a sizeable difference. Having the same policy across the State would make a lot more sense.

In respect of local authority inspections and follow-ups, Threshold has a proposal for a national car test-style system for housing. The purpose of this is not only to get as many inspections done as possible but to allow local authorities to engage with landlords to bring properties up to standard where they do not meet minimum standards. We could inspect 100% of properties and find that a given percentage does not meet the standards, but we need to allow for the next step as well. We have a proposal which aims to ensure that properties do meet standards.

There certainly is a cohort of people who are falling through the cracks as a result of housing unaffordability, which another member of the committee mentioned earlier.

I refer to those who are outside of eligibility for HAP or social housing but whose income is not sufficient to pay the high rents. That is where we hope that the wider provision of public housing in the form of affordable rental and purchase will come in and fill that space. As more social housing comes on board, people who are currently on HAP in the private rental sector may move into the social housing and then free up more properties which may help soften rents somewhat. Due to low output in recent years, we are still a bit of a way from that.