Joe Costello (Dublin Central, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply. Clearly the matter is not yet resolved. A difference of €180 per month is extraordinary. That equates to approximately €45 per week which is roughly the amount of rent that is paid by a tenant in the differential rent scheme. So that is almost double what is expected from a tenant.

We cannot continue with this charade any longer. The row with Dublin City Council has been going on since July 2014 and Dublin City Council did not start the row. The council has insisted that all its tenants should be treated equally and the differential rent should be the basis under which tenants pay the rent where it nominates people to both voluntary and social housing.

I wish to correct the statement the Minister of State made about nominations.

Dublin City Council has already nominated people for the units months ago but they have not been processed or written to. Since Christmas, the people have been left high and dry and they do not know what is happening. The 76 to 80 people are bewildered because no contact has been made with them. It is a totally unacceptable situation and the Minister of State must bang together some heads. The way to do so is to provide a deadline and say that, whatever happens, the situation must be resolved by the end of February this year. The State provided the money to build these units and the State is entitled to see its citizens accommodated in those units. I exhort the Minister of State, who has been trying hard, as has the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, to impose a deadline. We cannot let the situation continue any longer. In the background, a large number of people - all elderly people - are homeless and awaiting accommodation when the winter is still upon us.

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