Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

As I clearly stated, the rent contribution has not gone up in a number of years. It is entirely reasonable to expect somebody to pay €18 per week when the State pays anything up to €1,200 in some cases on their behalf, depending on family size etc. That €18 per week is much less than those same people would pay if they rented from the local authority.

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