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

I am glad that the Minister spoke to the district managers again yesterday because the directive issued in July had no impact in Limerick and I can state that quite categorically.

The Minister of State referred to the fact that approximately 860 people in Limerick have moved onto the rent allowance scheme recently. However, if one studied that group, one would find that a great number of them are paying under the counter payments because rents are way in excess of the rent caps. One will also find that many of them are moving into accommodation that is totally unsuitable. I will monitor progress on the most recent directive issued.

Regarding the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme, Limerick was used as a pilot for the roll-out of that scheme. The Government committed to the HAP in its programme for Government four years ago. A recent reply to a parliamentary questions indicated that out of approximately 72,000 people in receipt of rent allowance, fewer than 200 have moved to the HAP scheme in the past four years. Will the Minister of State confirm that these figures are correct?

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