Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Social housing is provided by the local authorities for people on low income who cannot afford to buy their own home. It is now proposed to increase the rent paid by these people. Given people are already struggling and will not be able to pay, the local authorities will have to meet this cost from their funding, leaving them with less funding for everything else, including maintenance. That the Minister is going after people in local authority housing is an outrage. It can be argued that these people are different, have different lifestyles and in many cases do not have the same opportunities as others. Many of them are low paid, unemployed or are senior citizens. Given the amount which the local authorities and approved housing bodies are required to find is an additional €25 million and €3.5 million, respectively, these people will be asked to pay an additional €4, €5 or €6.

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