Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)

I have a quick supplementary question. Going back to the challenge within the cost-rental sector, an increasing number of people – particularly those between the second and third income deciles, who are above the eligibility threshold for social housing and for whom cost rental is key – are being denied access because they fail the affordability test requiring rent to be over a third of their net disposable income. Also, given that this measure does not really knock an awful lot off the viability challenge – the STAR scheme is really the vehicle to do that – would it not have made more sense to have initiated this change as an affordability measure? This was the point that Deputy Doherty was raising earlier. It would have a very significant impact on affordability and therefore would increase access to cost rental among those who cannot access social housing or private-rental or private-purchase accommodation. It is a very weak viability measure but it could have been an important affordability measure.

My understanding is that the LDA is not going to pass it on to tenants in new cost-rental units. Was that part of the Minister's consideration at all?