Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I acknowledge that Deputy Brendan Smith has raised this quite often. The last time we discussed this, I did say that we hoped to have the report by June. I hope it will not be much longer than that before we have it. To be clear, a ring around will answer some of the questions. We know from our own analysis with the Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, what the rent increases are. We know there is pressure on the rental sector.

We are looking at four areas under this review. The Housing Agency is doing this work on behalf of the Department. It will be similar to what happened in 2011 and similar criteria will be looked at. These include the current income bands to see if they reflect the cost of providing suitable accommodation in the private sector. If they do not, then the question arises as to what should the appropriate thresholds be. That is a judgment call that must be based on evidence and on research. It cannot be just for me, the Deputy or the Minister to pick on a whim. That is also what the Housing Agency is analysing. It is also looking to see if we will continue with a regional banded approach to eligibility for social housing support. That is an important issue because the Deputy highlighted himself the differences in the different bands in respect of our native counties and other counties. We have asked the Housing Agency to analyse that and bring forward a suggestion on that too. Finally, we have asked the agency to look at the feasibility of introducing a form of transfer system that would allow social housing applicants to move across local authority areas while keeping their time on the list.

That is an issue that has been asked about repeatedly over the last year by councillors and our own colleagues. The review has a few areas that will inform policy changes. It is important that we get that information gathered correctly and that we make policy changes based on that as well. In the past couple of months, we have seen what can happen with local authorities interpreting information differently. We want to be very clear on this. We will have this review on our desks in the next couple of months and then we will be able to make decisions based on that. It is taking longer than any of us wanted. It is important we get the work finished.

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