Peter Fitzpatrick (Louth, Independent) | Oireachtas source

A man came into my office yesterday who has been on the council's housing waiting list for more than nine years. He was offered a house with Louth County Council and later on, after filling in the assessment form, the council phoned him up refusing him the house. The council said that he was over the income limit. This man has a child and he had received a promotion only in the last few weeks. The problem is that in Louth County Council the band two income limit is €30,000. I cannot understand it. If this man had gone through the housing assistance payment, HAP, scheme, there would be no means test and automatically if a house had become available he would have got it. Instead, his family took him into the family home. Are we going to stop people from going back to work and from getting promotions? What are we supposed to do in these situations? This man has been waiting for nine years for this house and he had the offer. To be fair to Louth County Council it will hold the house for a few days to see what will happen in this case. This man pays €70 for child maintenance. If this was taken into consideration for the means test he would be well under the income limit. I ask the Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government please to look at this. This man has waited nearly ten years for this house. What can we do?

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