Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

The very fact that the Minister of State has selected south Dublin shows that it is the first big urban local authority where there are serious rental pressures significantly above the rent caps. That is exactly the point I am trying to get to. HAP has the advantage of taking that poverty trap out of the system, which I acknowledge, but in fact it could end up being a very costly solution by virtue of the fact that the rent caps are being negotiated up on a case-by-case basis. In my area, the rent cap is €750 but we negotiate on a case-by-case basis every day. If we do not, in the region of 1,200 to 1,300 people will end up homeless. It is significantly above the cap and the 20% the Minister of State is talking about will be very challenging in terms of getting additional properties for the scheme. Obviously, it does not deal with the supply side issue at all. Has the Government costed into the 2020 strategy the actual situation rather than the situation as it would like to find it in terms of the caps and market rents?

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