Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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One of the things that is not counted in terms of the rent caps, which one must be acutely aware of, is that there is significant topping up taking place. The amount that people are paying for rent is being understated where they are making arrangements with landlords to pay extra. I do not know anyone in my area who is not paying additional amounts under the table, to the point where some of them are going hungry. There has always been flexibility within the rent caps for very special cases. I know of a young woman with very premature twins who is homeless. Those babies are homeless and due to go home to I do not know where. They are in intensive care and their case was put to the Department of Social Protection, which relaxed the rent cap by €50 per month. There is nothing I can find that comes anywhere close. There are hundreds of euro in the difference for any accommodation that can be found. If that is not a serious situation and cannot be regarded as an exception, I have no confidence that the limit being imposed on the Minister of State by the Minister for Finance or the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform will be workable.