Danny Healy-Rae (Kerry, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I, too, am pleased to get the opportunity created by the Labour Party this evening to talk again about this very serious problem that we all have to deal with and listen to, namely, housing. I do not think the Minister of State, Deputy Phelan, is listening to any of us this evening. We have enough plans, reports and reviews. What we want is money and action. If the money is not available, then the Minister should spell it out and tell us that is the case. There are a number of simple things that need to be addressed. Deputy Boyd Barrett mentioned that the income threshold for people on the housing list needs to be raised as a matter of urgency. A couple with two children can earn up to only €33,000, and if they go over that, they are taken off the housing list. I am aware of one couple, among others, who are on the housing list for 11 years and they are afraid they will be thrown off it due to that ridiculous situation.

The cap on the housing assistance payment, HAP, is too low for places such as Killarney and the busier towns such as Kenmare and Dingle. Currently it is €550 and it is €650 if a person gets the increased 20%. That is not adequate and the matter must be addressed. I am bawling here since I was elected asking the Minister to bring forward a tenant purchase scheme in such a way that retired individuals or couples would be allowed to purchase their homes. We had no tenant purchase scheme for five or six years and then it was opened up. People who have savings and the wherewithal to purchase their homes are not allowed to do so.

No funding is available in County Kerry for demountable or modular homes. They were part of the housing set-up, for example, in a case where a farmer whose house got into a bad state of repair but who wanted to stay on his land brought in a demountable home, but that is not allowed. The stock we have is not being repaired and the living conditions are not adequate for those living in them. No funding is available for them. I do not know what the Minister of State is looking at but I know he is not listening to me.

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