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

I tabled an amendment stating tenants in the RAS should receive priority in the allocation of social housing by the relevant authority should they be evicted owing to unaffordable rent. It was said when the RAS was introduced that participants would get another property that would be deemed appropriate to the RAS, be on a contract or get local authority housing. This is the commitment to which the Minister of State referred the other day when she stated people would go onto a transfer list or continue on the housing list. What we need is legislation. Words mean nothing because local authorities will derive their policy from the legislation. It is not a matter of what the Minister of State and I believe the interpretation to be; it is a matter of what the local authorities believe based on the legislation. It is quite clear that one's new arrangement will be regarded as an adequate housing arrangement under HAP; that is the problem.

One of our amendments was to suggest the new housing arrangement would not be adequate. It was a simple, straightforward solution. I appeal to the Minister of State, even at this late hour, to re-examine our amendment. She should legislate in some way to address our concerns. It is not good enough to say that people can go onto the transfer list. In many cases, the transfer list does not even exist. Will the Minister of State legislate in some way to ensure people can go onto the list or continue on the list? That is the only way to proceed; otherwise the legislation will be read in different ways.

We are experiencing a major crisis at present. Ultimately, the Government needs to introduce proper solutions and demonstrate how we will build more social housing. I realise we will not be able to deliver it for a year or year and a half, for example, but we need to have plans. Our analysis this year suggested 6,000 units are coming on stream. Some 2,500 of these pertain to the RAS and 1,200 pertain to leases. This is not proper housing provision. It is a case of massaging figures to address the problem with the social housing list. There are now 89,000 people on the rent supplement list. How many of them will be whittled away when they go onto HAP? How will we address their concerns? Will we go to the landlords and establish one-year, two-year or three-year contracts, as happened under the RAS? That is not adequate housing and nobody can tell me it is. It will not solve the problems we have. If we do not start now with a major stimulus of some description to get moving on the building of large quantities of social housing, we will continue as we are. Fr. McVerry stated some days ago circumstances are getting worse and will continue to do so. We need to start looking at what we have, find other avenues for housing people and identify alternatives.

We have talked about NAMA for long enough. NAMA has not delivered. It has delivered approximately 500 units. There is still talk that it can deliver more but its current rate of delivery is not worth talking about. Therefore, we really are in a crisis. I know of people with children on the RAS who were put out of their homes and ended up homeless. We were told this would not happen. This is exactly what will happen under HAP. We are in the midst of a crisis. Let us manage it in a fitting manner. We are not doing so.

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