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

This is essentially a technical Bill which paves the way for the larger debate. When I introduce the legislation on the housing assistance scheme, the economic assessment will have been completed. I hope to bring a memorandum to Cabinet before we break for the summer setting out our plan for implementing the transition. There is a great deal of work to be done before then, including co-ordination of the information technology systems of the Department of Social Protection and my Department. Nobody disagrees with the principle of what we are trying to achieve, namely, moving people to a fairer system of paying rent on the basis of their income and removing the poverty trap whereby individuals in receipt of rent supplement who obtain a full-time job lose their entire payment. That is a terrible impediment to seeking work.

I am not minimising the reality that there are serious financial issues we must address in the meantime, but I am determined that we will address them. The objective is to have a model of the level of rent that each different type of household would be expected to pay under a differential scheme. The type of variation about which Deputies Richard Boyd Barrett and Catherine Murphy are concerned would arise only on the basis of income. We will introduce detailed proposals in that regard. However, in advance of the completion of that element of the work, I cannot give definitive answers to the Deputies' questions.

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