Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this topic and the Minister for being here to listen and respond. The State should not pay more than market rents and rents should not be kept artificially high. I agree that affects all renters, including those not in receipt of rent assistance. We are on the same page on that.

Renting private property is not a long-term solution. There was a major missed opportunity over the past 15 years to deal with the supply side. I accept we are in a country which does not have the money to put ideal solutions in place. The situation must be managed. I know there will be a one-stop shop which should help matters. I see people in difficulty every single week. I have a couple of boxes of tissues on the counter of my office because people come to see me in a terribly distressed state over what has happened. There is no nuanced approach to some parts of the country in regard to the limits on rent assistance.

For two adults and two children living in Lucan or south Dublin the allowance is €925 a month. In Leixlip, Celbridge and Maynooth, an area which has a population equivalent to that of Waterford City and which is very much a suburb of Dublin, the allowance is €725 a month. No properties are available for that kind of money. I looked at www.daft.ie earlier and noted there were 62 three-bedroom properties available in Kildare, but not one in the three towns to which I referred.

There is also the issue of landlords not accepting rent assistance. There is no overhang of properties in those towns because most were sold off the plans. No NAMA-based solutions are in the offing. People have to look much further afield which means they may have to move their children to other towns. This creates a series of problems. Many schools are oversubscribed and it is very difficult to set up a child with special needs with additional resources in a new place. They are also being taken away from their friends.

There are quite a lot of properties advertised on www.daft.ie in south Kildare which one could rent for €725 a month but one cannot get them in north Kildare. The changes will be counter-productive in terms of the savings to the State if children require supports to be moved from schools. I understand the Department made a decision on a county by county basis but there can be variations within counties.

Some 43% of the housing waiting list is concentrated in six regions, Dublin City, south Dublin, Cork City, Cork county, Kildare and Fingal. The bottom 3% accounts for only 3% of the list. Some counties are affected more than others. There must be a more nuanced approach. I ask the Minister to consider the issue seriously. The whole country will not need to be reviewed, but the Department can be made aware of people who have been told to vacate properties within eight weeks. In many cases there is nowhere for them to vacate to.

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