Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I apologise for getting the number wrong in my question, but the Minister has updated me in that regard. As was stated, this was supposed to be a short-term solution. A person who is homeless and cannot afford to rent privately is entitled to support from the Government to rent appropriate accommodation. However, even though this is supposed to be a short-term solution, currently there are 53,000 people who have been in receipt of rent supplement for more than 18 months. Last year, as the Minister noted, there were 85,000 in receipt of rent supplement, at a cost to the Exchequer of more than €400 million. Regardless of whether we mean the old rent supplement scheme or the new, preferable, HAP scheme, what will happen to this large cohort? Are we going to continue indefinitely in a situation where we depend on private landlords to provide the necessary accommodation, paying a king's ransom into their pockets each year? Does the Government have a social housing policy to provide sufficient social housing for the people concerned to enable them to come off these schemes within a shorter timeframe than 18 months?

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