Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

I will examine the individual case. However, the present rules are that a person's home is not taken into account. I presume that means a person's home in which a person lives. If the home is an investment, the owner does not live in it and it is available for rental, then the present rules, as I understand them, mean the property is not exempt. Cash income, the value of capital and property, except one's own home, is assessed. In the case cited by the Deputy, it seems one person has left their home and lives in another home to care for somebody. The rented house is then regarded as part of the person's capital assets because, even though technically it is the person's home, they do not live in it. I accept that scenario will arise. As the rules are made to apply across the board, discretion is limited with regard to major decisions of this nature. It would not be fair to start exempting homes which are uninhabited or not available for rental, although I accept that anomalies and hard cases of the type the Deputy describes can arise. The supplementary welfare allowance was introduced to act as an ultimate safety net for people who may be caught out by various anomalies. The Department examines cases such as those outlined by the Deputy on an ongoing basis to determine whether we can learn general rules. Under the current rules a house available for rental or already rented out would have to be included in the capital value.

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