Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Here are the facts. Large numbers of people are losing access and are being denied access to social housing supports. How do we know? Because Deputies from all parties, including the Minister's party, have been saying it on the floor of the House for five years. One of the big concerns now is that as a result of the income tax and social welfare changes that were announced yesterday, there may be another group of people who are pushed marginally above the limit. I would be interested to know whether any analysis was done by the Minister's Department as to the impact of those changes on households that are at the margins of the existing limits. What I am not hearing from the Minister is the urgency that is required. We have been debating this, including when the Minister was on this side of the House, for years. Can the Minister tell us when he expects to bring a proposal to Cabinet at least, so that those people who are struggling will have some light at the end of the tunnel? I do not accept that a review that took over a year to conduct, that is now taking over a year to assess, which could then lead to even more research and assessment, is an acceptable timeline. These people are hard-pressed and cannot afford their rent.

They are losing years and need the Minister to act now.

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