Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Factors such as the number of children in one's family, or whether one's spouse is in work, are taken into account when payments are made to people who have lost their jobs. The role of child benefit has to be acknowledged too. The Deputy suggested that people are unable to pay their rents, but the rent supplement scheme, which we discussed earlier, is in place to assist such people.

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