Seán Crowe (Dublin South West, Sinn Fein)

My amendment seeks to delete the section and my view is shared by Deputy Penrose. It is clear the section comes from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. It goes against the view articulated previously by the Minister and his Department in regard to rent supplement and the importance of keeping in contact with young single parents who are vulnerable and away from families. Local family supports are needed. As the previous speaker said, this is social engineering. Because these areas are being regenerated we no longer want young kids originally from those areas living there. That does not make sense. Essentially it enables the State to exclude families who depend on social welfare from areas scheduled for regeneration by refusing to pay rent supplement. It goes against the previous position. The Ombudsman advised against it saying it was discriminatory. Many people have grave concerns about this whole area.

I agree with the concept of social integration. It is positive. However, this legislation deprives the most vulnerable in society, those in receipt of rent supplement. The Minister has an opportunity here to tell the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government that rather than concentrate on the area of rent supplement he needs to concentrate on the shortage of social housing. Given that 44,000 families are on the housing list he should concentrate on that rather than put his nose in where it is not welcome and, clearly, it is not welcome in this instance.

A number of areas are being regenerated and that is welcome. However, in many areas the local committees have not been consulted on this issue. That is wrong. In the Ballymun area, Councillor Dessie Ellis opposed this when it was first mooted by the Minister of State, Deputy Noel Ahern. Ballymun has been regenerated in that 2,400 flats have been replaced unit for unit. However, an extra 2,000 units which are not in the social and affordable bracket are in private development. Is that the way to regenerate or restructure the city? Everyone knows there have been problems in Ballymun. Who are the best people to solve the problems in Ballymun? It is the people living in that area, yet the people who have not been consulted in regard to the proposed changes are the people who live in that area. The experts have come in, the same experts who built the Ballymun towers without facilities and so on. There is a similar situation in Fatima Mansions which has been regenerated. This is another area that has been described in the Minister's reports as disadvantaged and yet we are saying to the young people who come from that area that they cannot live near their parents and friends, near the area where they grew up, because of this silly legislation.

I ask the Minister to delete that provision as it does nothing for the Bill. It is a backward step. The only reason there is a need for rent supplement is the failure to produce enough social housing. Things are getting worse rather than better. I agree that rent supplement is subsidising private landlords and there is the issue of double tax and so on. However, I am genuinely moved by the plight of many of those young people who come from the areas that are being regenerated. Regeneration is supposed to be a positive development for the community and yet this will be a negative element for the young kids who will be forced to live further away. The policy is that the best way forward for many of these kids is to keep them in the local area where the supports are available. The same view applies in regard to the homelessness. We are doing the opposite here and it does not make any sense.

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