Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

There is no evidence of the Minister working hard on this issue. Our questions concern how the Minister will reduce the cost of housing in terms of rent supplement. Unfortunately, very little progress has been made in this area and it seems the Minister is washing her hands of the matter. The Minister referred to savings made through actions taken in the past two budgets but she does not seem to get the point. Major savings can be made if more people transfer from rent supplement to RAS. Rather than wash her hands of this matter, as she did in the past two budgets, and place the onus on tenants - many of whom are vulnerable - by telling them to negotiate with their landlords, why is the Minister not taking responsibility for this and dealing with it on a State-wide basis by driving down rents? Is the Minister aware that Dublin City Council achieved savings of 16% on rents by negotiating directly? The council is in a powerful position and this should happen throughout the country.

Of all expenditure in social welfare, rent supplement is the greatest waste of money because it is dead money. It goes into the pockets of landlords and the State gets very little in return. There are currently 33,000 people waiting to avail of RAS. That system is much more beneficial in enabling them to go to work without creating poverty traps. It is much more beneficial to the State because of the potential significant savings that can be made. Why are some people waiting for this scheme and what steps has the Minister taken to enable a greater number of people to move from rent supplement to RAS?

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