Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, United Left) | Oireachtas source

I put it to the Minister that it is not a question of supply but of landlords increasing rents to a level that people receiving rent allowance cannot pay. It is also due to many landlords specifying "no rent allowance" or "work references only". That is a form of apartheid towards unemployed people who need rent allowance to secure private rented accommodation. I am glad to hear the Minister defining clearly the intervention of community welfare officers because I have found the approach to be ad hocin terms of who to approach to deal with the matter.

For example, the bank has taken over the house of a girl from Tallaght who contacted me. She has five children and the local authority cannot provide her with housing. She has been told to move out of the house by 28 July, but she has nowhere to go. She is trying everywhere for accommodation. If the Minister could e-mail the information she provided for the House earlier to every Deputy and community welfare officers, it would help.

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