Imelda Munster (Louth, Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

I could say that I do not think the Minister and his Government have any idea of the real stress that their housing policy is causing people but, at this stage, I believe they really could not care less. People are languishing on housing lists for up to 12 years. There are people who are unable to afford asking prices for rent. They cannot afford a place to live. People in receipt of HAP do not have a hope.

I will raise the case of a constituent living in east Meath who is on a Dublin City Council housing list but wishes to rent in east Meath under the inter-authority movement of HAP households. She cannot find anywhere affordable in Dublin and is moving. The woman is a lone parent with children who attend school in east Meath. There is a severe shortage of rental homes in the area so she was thrilled to eventually secure a two-bedroom apartment for the extortionate price of €1,600 per month. The council in Dublin was willing to pay €1,260 in HAP. However, when it emailed the inter-county request to Meath County Council, it was refused permission on the grounds that the rent is not within market rent values for the area. I wrote to Meath County Council and was told that HAP payments for a given household should not exceed rents for a relevant local area or have any inflationary affect on the market in the area.

One might say that is fair enough but in reality that is the actual cost of renting a two-bed apartment. Inflation is clearly caused by the dire lack of housing in east Meath and not by HAP payments. What then are HAP tenants to do in a situation like this? All this measure does is discriminate against HAP residents as these houses and apartments will be snapped up by non-HAP tenants who are desperate for accommodation despite the cost. HAP tenants will therefore be locked out of rental properties. As such, the HAP scheme is completely dysfunctional. It was the cornerstone of Government housing policy all through the years, namely, shove people into private rented accommodation, give them no security of tenure and happy days for landlords. Families across this State are being forced into homelessness as a result. We now have the highest-ever homelessness figures in this State, as the Minister of State knows.

There is no emergency accommodation available in County Louth - that is how dire this situation is. We have young people emigrating because despite working in good jobs they cannot afford to live here. We have households where three or four generations are living under the one roof. People are in utter despair, there is no end in sight and yet the Government continues with its failed policies.

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