Mr. Niamh O'Donoghue:

It is not so much the case that it is a poverty trap, but we are acutely aware of the disincentive effect of rent supplement in the case of a person looking to progress from unemployment to employment. There is conditionality attached to rent supplement. That is why the decision on the housing assistance payment will be different. In a sense, these are policy issues and the Government has clearly outlined policy in that direction. The expectation is to try to remove that disincentive to engagement by moving people to the housing assistance payment.