Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)

Ba mhaith liom ar dtús aontú leis an gcomhbhrón a rinneadh le clann Nolan de bharr bhás James Nolan sa Pholainn. Mar is eol don Teach tá ambasáid na hÉireann sa Pholainn ag comhoibriú leis an chlann faoi láthair.

I wish to clarify a number of points. The budget in respect of homelessness has been maintained and is not being cut as alleged by Sinn Féin. A considerable sum of money is being paid out through the rent allowance system to support tenants in the payment of rent. The purpose of placing a cap on the amount of rent to which that allowance can be applied is precisely to ensure that the State will not be subsidising landlords but that instead it will provide assistance to tenants to enable them to pay their rent. Another purpose of the cap is to ensure that landlords will not exploit the rent allowance system to hike up rents in anticipation that the State will cover people's rent in any event.

The Government has made a decision to transfer long-term rent supplement to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government next year. The purpose of this is to achieve better co-ordination in respect of the way in which the rent supplement system operates and to integrate that system with that which relates to the provision of housing. There is ongoing engagement with NAMA in the context of acquiring housing from it to be made available as social housing. Again, this should be of assistance in reducing the amount paid out in rent supplement.

What we must do in the first instance is ensure that people's housing needs are met. We must also ensure that those who are in private rented accommodation are given support in circumstances where they are unable to pay their rent. That support will be provided through the rent supplement system. As the Deputy is aware, the RAS scheme allows local authorities to enter into longer-term arrangements with landlords. Under this scheme rent is negotiated between housing authorities and landlords, usually on a four-year basis. We would like to see this being done to a greater extent, rather than have rent negotiations conducted exclusively between a tenant and a landlord.

See this speech in context