Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)

I have received the FLAC submission on the Bill, including its comment on mortgage interest supplement. The Department is looking to address the needs of mortgage holders, having regard to the various commitments in the programme for Government and the recommendations of the mortgage arrears and personal debt expert group.

Any changes to the mortgage interest supplement scheme must be considered in a budgetary context because a number of the changes put forward have significant implications and very detailed work is being done on the detail of the recommendations of the mortgage arrears and personal debt expert group.

I am working very closely with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister of State with responsibility for housing and planning to see how best to address the various housing issues facing households, including the issue of mortgage interest supplement and the broader issue of rent supplement which I am extremely anxious to have transferred to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Much work is under way in regard to all of these changes but the budgetary issues have not yet been fully identified and it would not be possible to bring forward legislation or changes until that has all been done.

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