Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

It is reasonable to suggest a period of six months for monitoring the legislation subsequent to its introduction. I am not clear on how people will transfer from rental supplement to HAP. Many of the 78,000 people who are in receipt of rent supplement are making top up payments. What problems will we face when we come to assessing that in the local authorities? I can see major problems in this regard because some of the rents being paid are over and above what is allowed. Has this problem been encountered in the trial version of HAP in Limerick? Have people reported receiving rent supplement payments that they had to top up?

To deem people under HAP as having adequate housing is absolutely mad. It is similar to what happened in 2011, when a rule was introduced stating that anyone signing up to RAS was to be regarded as adequately housed. The same people are now being made homeless. They cannot even find a local authority place because they have been made homeless.

We are doing all of this in the absence of rent control. I do not understand how we are supposed to keep rents at a certain level, and monitor them, when two of my amendments on rent control were ruled out of order. Whether it is tied to inflation or the cost of living, we must develop a mechanism for rent control. It is done in other European countries. The Minister of State's officials and officials from the Department of Social Protection acknowledged that people will end up off the housing list but she has not once acknowledged that people will be taken from the housing list if they avail of HAP. She needs to have the honesty to acknowledge that is going to happen. People will then start to wake up to what is happening.

See this speech in context