Ruth Coppinger (Dublin West, Socialist Party) | Oireachtas source

Until last Tuesday nobody on the council housing list knew the gravity of what is contained in this Bill. Section 37 is the most damaging section and is the cause of most complaint for us, including people on the housing list. It amounts to one sentence that is written ambiguously and designed to hide the gravity of what is intended.

Until last Thursday the Minister of State was hesitant and denied that people who go on the new HAP scheme would be removed from the housing list. Deputy Eoghan Murphy, from the Minister of State's council area in Limerick, exposed the lie by uncovering the following quote from a document raised at the meeting of the Joint Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht of 7 May:

The intention behind the formal scheme is that once households are supported by HAP they will be considered to have their housing needs met and will be removed from the housing waiting list. This is a fundamental change to overall housing policy where those in receipt of long-term rent supplement support remain on local authority waiting lists.

This could not be clearer and dates from May, prior to my election to this House. Yet in the past two weeks the Minister of State has come before this House and denied what has been outlined. The document goes on to say that 50,000 people of the 80,000 currently on rent supplement will migrate to HAP. It says "as they transfer to HAP waiting lists will be reduced by 50,000". This is very convenient.

All of this has nothing to do with ending poverty traps or helping working people. A homeless family that works pointed out to me that there is nothing in this Bill to help them because they are not on rent supplement. The truth has been exposed by others and the Minister of State knew it all along. We now know the truth and it runs contrary to what has been stated in the past week or two.

The Minister of State should withdraw this Bill and bring forward the statutory instrument about which she has been speaking for consideration by the House. In fairness to people, this matter should be addressed in the Bill.

It is disgraceful that this fundamental legislation which will affect 100,000 families on the housing waiting list is receiving so little attention from the media. Them seem only to appear in the House to cover Leaders' Questions.

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