Seán Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)

My views are somewhat similar to those of Deputy Enright. As we all know, there has been a massive shift towards private rental accommodation in recent years. This was obviously a policy decision taken by the Government and its predecessor as a consequence of their not providing sufficient social housing for those in need. For this reason, I counsel against the proposal in question. It is desirable that people feel responsible for their own accommodation. The amendment is such that I fear debts would mount that would be owed to the Health Service Executive rather than the local authority. This would leave people in a very awkward position, with the possibility of losing their accommodation.

Let us be honest about the fact that, in hard times, in which one might be at the pin of one's collar, the first one thing one would do if one felt one could get away with it would be to postpone paying one's rent. This would be very bad in the longer term. In the short term, one might feel one is getting away with something but the debt would continue to increase. I understand what our Labour Party colleagues may be considering in proposing this amendment but there are other ways to address the problem of people abusing the system. I would not address the problem at the expense of somebody who depends on receiving accommodation through the rental system. Unfortunately, many such people are on low incomes and would find it very difficult to meet debts if they accumulated over a reasonably long period. Therefore, I cannot support the amendment.

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