Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I do not propose to accept Deputy Boyd Barrett's amendments. We are moving towards a harmonisation of rent under HAP. It is intended that there would be model rents for different families around the country and harmonisation would be developed under the HAP legislation which we will introduce later in the year. It is a fairly technical amendment to ensure we can have rent schemes during the course of the transition period.

I did not think Deputies Boyd Barrett or Ellis had a Stalinist approach to socialism. I am a democratic socialist and I thought both Deputies were as well. In effect, they are saying there should be a diktat from the Custom House that would take away all local democratic decision making with regard to this. There is very limited democratic input in terms of the role of councillors, but that was widely welcomed across the House when we dealt with Second Stage of the Bill.

The Deputy proposes that the national rent scheme should be absolute across the country from the beginning. For example, the rent for a one person household in one part of the country might be €20 per week but can be over €30 in another part of the country. We want to set a model for a general scheme around the country. We want to give local authorities time to get to that point. I propose a graduation towards model rents.

In other words, a local authority which is now charging €20 would have time to come to a model rent and one which charges a higher rent would suffer a loss if rents were reduced. We need to give councils and councillors a certain amount of time to get to a model rent. I assure the House that the intention is to move towards a harmonised rent scheme. We have not had a centralised rent scheme since 1986.

Section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 facilitates significant harmonisation of local authority rents while providing locally elected members with some discretion in deciding rent policy for their areas. The section will bring local authority rent policies more in line with each other, while retaining some scope for variation for local circumstances. The Deputy's amendments go to the other extreme and would involve diktats from the Custom House that must be implemented without question by every housing authority.

This approach not only runs counter to the Government's approach to local government reform but also flies in the face of the approach to social housing reform set out in the 2009 Act which involves local authorities exercising their statutory functions within broad parameters set down at national level, but in a manner which reflects local circumstances.

At various times during debates on housing and local government we have all talked about the need to give more power and function to local authority members. Amendment No. 3 proposes the deletion of subsection (7) from section 31. This enactment gives elected members a policy making function in regard to rents for the first time. As I said, Members on both sides of the House welcomed that on Second Stage.

I am somewhat surprised that the Deputy thinks so little of local democracy that he wishes to take away a policy making power from councillors before they have even had an opportunity to exercise it. Section 31, as it stands, strikes the right balance between national and local policy making in regard to local authority rents and I do not, therefore, propose to accept the amendments.

I want to reassure Deputy Boyd Barrett that the intention is to have harmonisation right across the country. We want to give a small amount of discretion to local councillors in terms of policy making. We also want to give councils some time to get to that point. This will facilitate the transfer of long-term rent supplement to local authorities, but in order to do that we need to have model rents for the different types of households around the country.

The intention is to get close to the position the Deputy is taking, but I do not propose to have the Custom House or any centralised government authority take away powers we propose to give to local councillors, albeit a relatively limited power in terms of rent policy.

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