Bríd Smith (Dublin South Central, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Okay. The voluntary housing sector is due to get approximately €1 billion from the State under the Rebuilding Ireland plan. That is quite a lot of State money. When I referred earlier to "clients", I should have referred to "constituents". I apologise to my constituents for referring to them in that manner. My point is that people have seen rent increases of 38% at a time when there is supposed to be rent control. An increase of €20 a week might not seem like much to people who are paying exorbitant rents in the private rental sector, but it amounts to €1,000 a year, which is a hell of a lot to bear for somebody who is on the old age pension or on disability allowance. When I queried this with the housing body, I appealed to it to take a more incremental approach in light of the fact that the people in question have received increases of just €5 this year. The housing body dismissed this by saying that people who are having difficulty in meeting their heating bills could contact the relieving officer in the Department of Social Protection. This is a flippant, cruel and inconsiderate way for bodies that are receiving State support to behave. It suggests to me that more constraints, structures, rules and regulations are needed in this area of the rental sector. People from the housing list who are given homes are worse off when they go into the voluntary sector than they would be if they went into the local authority sector. There is a real hole here and it needs to be dealt with.

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