Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his response. Will he confirm that the Department's directive to community welfare officers in Limerick to allow flexibility represents a change in policy? I represent Limerick city and I am dealing with cases week in and week out. My experience is that no flexibility is being shown in the Limerick area.

At the moment in Limerick, the rent cap for a married couple is €400 per month. There is no place suitable for a married couple in the Limerick city area available for €400 per month. The cap for a married couple with one child is €500 per month. Again, there is nowhere in Limerick city with accommodation suitable for a married couple and a child available for €500 per month. Such accommodation would cost at least €800 per month and if one asks any auctioneer in Limerick, he or she will confirm that. There is a real problem. In some cases, people are paying rent top-ups or under the counter payments which are, strictly speaking, illegal. How far will the flexibility to which the Minister of State referred extend? Will it extend as far as supplementing a married couple with one child who find suitable accommodation costing €800 but for whom the rent cap is €500?

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