Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)

I gave the figures. There are about 60,000 people on rent supplement. There are about 33,000 of those who are over the 18-month waiting period. About 1,000 people have moved so far. This will be a very slow process, and to date it is slower than we expected. One has to negotiate case by case with each landlord. Much of the accommodation for which people were receiving rent allowance is very poor. The local authorities will not touch it or take responsibility for it. Some of the tenancies are not registered with the PRTB and other landlords are sitting on the fence and do not necessarily want to do business. Overall, the process is slow. It was always meant to take about four years, and is a major project.

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