Pat Breen (Clare, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister. The last paragraph of his statement is helpful in that he recognises that the current limits may discriminate unfairly against certain classes of households and said that the limits will be considered in the context of the review of social housing assessment procedures being carried out by his Department.

I would like the Minister to consider the example of the couple I mentioned. Many low income families are now at greater risk because they are trapped in the system. They cannot afford to get on the property ladder. They cannot get a mortgage from the banks, and they are not qualifying for social housing. I gave the Minister a typical example of a couple with a net income of €600 a week but their rent of €500 a month cannot be taken into account, which is unfortunate, although I understand where the Minister is coming from also.

The Minister might outline the different bands. Clare is in Band 3. I do not understand the reason for the discrepancy in terms of the counties I mentioned, namely, Kerry, Limerick, Cork and other counties because housing is scarce in County Clare. There are 3,000 approved applicants for social housing. There is never enough housing to meet demand. There is always a significant demand for social housing, but I will consider what the Minister said about the review his Department is carrying out. I ask him to personally look at County Clare in the context of that review, bearing in mind the example I gave him. That couple genuinely want social housing, and they are not in a position to get a mortgage to buy a house of their own.

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