Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No.1:

In page 3, to delete lines 10 to 16 and substitute the following:“(a) in subsection (3) by deleting paragraphs (a) and (b) and substituting:

“(a) charges such as rent as is set down in a national rent scheme established by the Minister.”,

(b) by deleting subsection (4),

(c) in subsection (5) by substituting the following paragraphs for paragraphs (a) and

(b):

“(a) A housing authority shall, in accordance with regulations made for the purposes of this section, not later than the date prescribed by the Minister for the purposes of this subsection make a scheme (in this Act referred to as a 'rent scheme') in line with the national rent scheme as referred to in subsection (3).

(b) A housing authority may, from time to time, as the Minister directs, revoke the rent scheme and make a new rent scheme.”.”.

I have tabled these amendments because I believe that rents should be set according to people's means and ability to pay. If one is on a social welfare payment in Donegal, Dún Laoghaire or west Cork, one's payment is the same. If one is earning the minimum wage in Kerry, Kilkenny or Westmeath, one's wage is the same. Social housing rents should be set on that basis, namely on what people are able to pay, given their income and no other factors should be taken into consideration.

At one level, this Bill suggests that the Government is moving in that direction because it refers to removing certain considerations that should not be included in the setting of rents. That is welcome because it is wrong, for example, for property prices to be in any way influential in the setting of rents for social housing. In my area of Dún Laoghaire, and I suspect it is true of Dublin generally and other major urban centres, social housing rents have been heavily influenced by local property prices, which is completely unfair. Property prices should have no bearing whatsoever on social housing rents. I have compared the differential rent scheme in Dún Laoghaire with schemes elsewhere and found that - for no apparent reason other than the fact that private rental rates in the area are high in general - social rent rates for the area are higher than the average, even though the income of people who depend on social housing is no higher in Dún Laoghaire than elsewhere. This situation is grossly unfair and the Minister of State seems to be trying to address it with this legislation, at one level at least. However, while it is fair enough to take market prices out of the equation, the Minister of State is still giving the power to local authorities to vary rents. The Bill refers to issues such as the cost of maintenance of the social housing stock, for example, as something which can influence the rents local authorities can charge. I do not believe that is right, particularly against the background where budgets for local authorities and the money being made available for the provision of social housing are being cut, year on year, because there will be major, if not irresistible, pressure on local authorities to increase rents in order to maintain their housing stock. Therefore, significant variations in rent levels between one location and another will continue, based on the financial health or otherwise of the relevant local authority.

We need social housing because there are 100,000 families on the social housing list. We must provide for such families right across the country in a major way, which has not been done for the past ten to 15 years. I hope this Government will address the urgent social housing need that exists. That must be done and the rents for that social housing must be based solely on people's ability to pay, now more than ever, as so many in our society are struggling financially. There should be no question of rents for social housing being increased because of financial pressures on the local authorities.

While there are elements of this Bill that are progressive, there are other aspects that are very retrograde. The way to address that is to have a national differential rent scheme, to be applied right across the board, rather than giving local authorities the power to vary rents, depending on what pressures they are under. That is the logic behind my amendments and I hope the Government will seriously consider accepting them. I believe they are fair. The Department seems to be acknowledging, in this Bill, that there is an unjustified variation in rents across the country. If the Department accepts that, then the best way to address it is to devise a national differential rent scheme, based purely on people's ability to pay. I look forward to the Minister of State's response.

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