Alan Dillon (Mayo, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank our witness for joining us today and for his presentation. I certainly feel the HAP programme for struggling tenants, where the State subsidises rising rents through direct payments to the private rental market, is not value for money. Since its introduction, we have seen the scheme bloom. Dr. Sweeney earlier mentioned that more than 50,000 people avail of the scheme and that is evidence of its blooming.

I was surprised no reference was made in Dr. Sweeney's presentation to the thresholds that are applied to applicants for social housing under the housing assistance regulation. There is a maximum threshold in Mayo and I am sure that threshold is much higher in the Dublin region. I think the threshold for couples is €26,000. That means a whole cohort of people who are earning €30,000 do not qualify for social housing and cannot get access to a mortgage. In other words, these applicants are too wealthy to avail of housing assistance and too poor to get a mortgage from their banks. Am I correct in saying income limits are set by the Department and not by the council? What concerns does TASC have with regard to the many people who do not qualify because of these income thresholds? I would like to get Dr. Sweeney's thoughts on that.