Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 33:

In page 54, between lines 13 and 14, to insert the following:“(e) The Minister shall review the maximum amount of rent referred to in paragraph (b) every three months in each municipal district as defined under Part 3A of the Local Government Act 2001 (as amended), and, where evidence compiled indicates that less than 10 per cent of available rental accommodation units may be accessed by an individual or a family receiving a payment under this Part, shall initiate a review of the effectiveness of the present maximum amount of rent for that area.”.

While there will not always be a shortage of supply, this definitely is the case at present, which if anything, demonstrates the need for this provision. Essentially, the legislation limits the amount from the Exchequer on an annual basis and a dangerous lack of flexibility in this regard is evident at present. This provision seeks a much more flexible arrangement whereby the local authorities will consider the limits every three months and in the case of less than 10% of available rental accommodation being accessible, there must be intervention or a relaxation of the rent caps. I do not know whether the Minister of State does this but I find myself accessing daft.iethree or four times a week to ascertain whether anything is available for individuals within the rent caps and invariably, I find there is not. I understand this legislation pertains to the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme and not the rent supplement scheme but it is being governed by the same type of caps. Consequently, one can expect the same situation will arise. One then is informed there will be a review, which will be undertaken every 18 months. However, that is not all that helpful to someone who has a problem now and is at risk of becoming, or in many cases has become, homeless.

This amendment attempts to introduce a level of flexibility and in this context, I looked at the Labour Party's local election manifesto which states: "We will seek the urgent return [of] flexibility at ... local level in terms of rent caps to tackle displacement and allow discretion to be applied by Community Welfare Officers." The Minister for Social Protection, who is a member of the Labour Party, has responsibility in this regard and this is in that party's manifesto. All I seek is for such flexibility to be applied to the legislation, which would be in keeping with the Labour Party view according to this manifesto. I believe this must be done if one is to avoid the extremely rigid application of something that evidently is posing so many problems at present.

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