Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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I thank the Minister for his presentation. I acknowledge and welcome the breadth of the documentation we have been given. It sets a very good precedent for the engagement between the Departments and the committee. I acknowledge the stated commitment of the Minister, Deputy Simon Coveney, and the Minister of State, Deputy Damien English, to work collaboratively with the committee. This is good and to be welcomed.

I have a question on underspends. In addition to the general underspend in the social housing budget, on which there has been much public commentary, I am interested in any comment the Minister may have to make on underspends in the budgets for Traveller and RAS accommodation. I am still unclear on whether the mortgage to rent budget, through the housing agency and local authorities, fully comes from the Minister's Department and if there are underspends in that area.

The second question is on statistics and how they might be presented in the future. We are all keen to see the extent of delivery of the social housing programme, irrespective of our differences. One of the issues I have with the statistics relates specifically to HAP tenancies. Some are new tenancies, while others involve a move from the rent supplement scheme to the HAP scheme. There is a change, but tenants remain in the same property. It would be sensible in the future for some distinction to be made purely for the purposes of information, particularly given that there will be about 10,000 HAP tenancies this year.

Perhaps I am being a little cheeky in asking my final question, but we welcome the announcement earlier in the week on the HAP thresholds. Perhaps the Minister might provide some clarity on the policy. There was a sentence in the joint press release of the two Ministers that informal top-up arrangements could be compensated for.