Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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I recognise the crisis in this area. I meet every day with the people affected, some of whom I would never have expected to have to rent a home. Some of these people are working and others are unfortunately unemployed. The rent caps are a significant part of the problem in areas of high demand. As a public representative, I have run out of things to say to people who come to my clinics about this issue. There are no solutions at the moment. As stated, there is a need for short, medium and long-term measures to address this problem. There is also a need for Departments and agencies to work together in finding solutions. This problem must be addressed on a multi-agency basis. We must ensure we have homes that are acceptable as places for people to live. There is little of this type of approach which would break a cycle in the context of anti-social behavioural problems. There is a mountain of work to be done.

Most of my dealings on this issue are with families with children. Last week, I met with a parent who, with child, had slept the previous night in a car. When I raised this matter with the local authority I was informed that this person should seek a relative who would allow them sleep on their couch because there was no hostel, B&B or other accommodation available. This problem must be acknowledged for what it is, namely, a crisis. Up to now I have not had any dealings with the Simon Community in my area. However, I now find myself in regular contact with it. Some people think that because there are a couple of big industries located in north Kildare it is a well-to-do area. However, homeless is very prevalent in areas where the local authority lists are lengthy.

On proposed solutions, the rent caps set for many areas are way below the market rents, particularly in urban areas of high demand. Last year, €403 million was spent on rent supplement. The more one takes out of people's pockets in rent the less there is for the economy. We need to view rent caps from the broader economic perspective also. I am interested in hearing the witnesses' views on that issue.

On the housing assistance payment, the heads of the Bill dealing with this issue were published recently. I foresee two major issues arising in this regard. First, some of the local authorities do not have the resources to deal with this, particularly those located in areas of high demand. Are the witnesses concerned about this? Second, I do not know of anybody in private rented accommodation in my area who is not paying a top-up. In all of the cases concerned, these are illegal top-ups but people are forced to pay them or face homelessness. Would the witnesses agree that this is an issue? I would also welcome their views on whether people are obtaining accommodation at rent rates which are below the market rents.