Ms Michelle Murphy:

We see this moving to a cost rental system. It was one of the proposals in the NESC document on housing in Ireland. We see this as a much more long-term goal because it will be impossible to implement a cost rental system until there is sufficient supply. We see the initial objective as getting sufficient housing stock, consisting of both public and private housing units, before then moving to a cost rental system whereby the housing provider develops the accommodation and charges the rent on the basis of covering capital and maintenance costs only. While this cost will probably be higher than the differential rent initially, research by Threshold shows that a huge number of rent supplement and HAP recipients are already paying a top up, particularly the former. They also have very insecure tenure. The cost rental system is not just a question of removing the differential caps. One must be within a system where there is security of tenure and sufficient supply and it is not just a question of tax incentives for private landlords. One would be looking at approved housing bodies managing some of these developments. It is a much longer-term goal and would involve moving towards the system which NESC outlined that not only should one be developing housing for occupancy but the State should be able to ensure that we have a sufficient amount of housing available for long-term tenancy. These units would be suitable for single persons, families and older people or people with disabilities. This is a much longer-term goal and would require consensus around what sort of housing policy and housing strategy we have but prior to even moving towards a cost rental system, one would need the supply.