Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)

I asked the Minister his plans for reforming rent supplement but he made no attempt to reply to my question. There is a great deal of ill-informed discussion about people being better off on social welfare and I am concerned about the level of the debate in the media. Forfás is also engaged in ill-informed talk. The reality is that the majority of people are better off in work than on social welfare. However, does the Minister accept that a particular category of welfare recipients are better off on social welfare, namely, those who face high housing costs? For that reason, I ask him to give serious consideration to reform of the operation of the rent supplement scheme. At present a ludicrous situation obtains whereby a married man with two children who is in receipt of rent supplement would lose €60 per week by taking up full-time employment. That makes no sense. It is a specific problem which relates to the operation of the rent supplement scheme. Is the Minister prepared to take steps to reform rent supplement in order to make it worth that person's while? If he was to remove the 30-hour rule, that person would gain €90 per week and there would be a very strong incentive to go to work.

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