Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

A number of aspects of the rental accommodation scheme need to be reviewed. The significant expansion of the scheme in recent years, even prior to recent developments in the area of unemployment, raises questions, particularly as regards the formation of new households, young people etc. Issues also arise regarding the nature of the accommodation on offer, for instance, whether it is substandard. Another issue is the ability of people on rent supplement to obtain accommodation they would not be able to afford if they were in employment. In this context, the Department seeks to ensure we do not build into the system disincentives to work, an issue we discussed earlier.

A further issue, one which I have discussed with a number of housing officers, is the number of times individuals may be permitted to refuse an offer of social housing or to participate in the rental accommodation scheme before rent supplement is discontinued.

See this speech in context