Bertie Ahern (Dublin Central, Fianna Fail)

Deputy Rabbitte's question concerns the Comptroller and Auditor General's value for money examination, which was undertaken to determine the factors that gave rise to the rapid increase in expenditure on rent supplement between 2000 and 2005, to establish whether the Department had managed the scheme with due regard to economy during that period and to review the roles of the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the HSE in planning, managing and operating the rent supplement scheme. Rent supplement is administered by the Health Service Executive's department of community service on behalf of the Department. It is viewed as a welfare safety net for those with short-term income problems.

The main finding, of which Deputy Rabbitte will be aware, was that recipient numbers have increased from 42,700 to 60,000. The increase in numbers claiming and in average rent supplement are the main factors in the cost increase. Single parents make up a large, but not the only, element in that. The point was made that the Department must capture and report data allowing for informed analysis, and the Department has spelt out its reply. It has been suggested that it did not adjust rent limits downwards when rents were falling, but there is no evidence to support that. The Department froze rent limits in 2002. Together with subsequent measures, that has had a stabilising effect on rent limits in the relevant market sector.

The potential loss of rent supplement would act as a deterrent to taking up employment, the point that Deputy Rabbitte has highlighted. My response is that substantial measures have been taken to remove possible disincentives. We have introduced an improvement disregard of almost €200 and the tapered withdrawal of benefits as earnings increase. The Minister has stated his intention to continue that as it has been very helpful for those who wish to work. Deputy Rabbitte's points were more relevant to the previous situation when there was neither a disregard nor tapering. As in all such issues, the more one improves matters, the more people will have the opportunity to work. There are employment supports and special retention arrangements for those taking up employment, and those are all good. In a recent report, the Minister spelled out other areas in which he felt these issues should be examined, and those are matters for the Department in its budgetary exercise. However, there have been a number of improvements.

The Comptroller and Auditor General's other conclusion was that rent supplement had evolved from short-term support to major social housing assistance programmes, a point also made by Deputy Rabbitte. That is being addressed under the rent assistance scheme. Local authorities now have a specific responsibility to meet the long-term housing needs of this category on the basis of a phased implementation. When fully implemented, the arrangements will allow rent supplement to return to its original objective of short-term income support.

On the social housing issue, it is true that somewhere between 6,000 and 7,000 local authority houses will be started or acquired this year. The needs of approximately 14,000 households will be met from the range of social and affordable housing schemes. The provision for social and affordable housing this year is more than €2 billion. That is more than double the expenditure for the first year into which this report looked. This increase of €1.4 billion in Exchequer provision is an increase of 13% this year, so it is incorrect to state substantial resources are not being provided.

The Government has honoured its commitment in social partnership to make available during the course of the programme sites from the State's holding of 10,000 units. We have surpassed that. As I pointed out yesterday, the houses are under construction. It was never the case that they would all be built within the three-year period. Perhaps the House wants to set aside emergency legislation and ignore zoning and planning. It takes a developer six years to follow the process. Nobody in the trade union movement believed it would be done in under three years.

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