Gerald Nash (Louth, Labour) | Oireachtas source

I appreciate the opportunity to speak on this important debate. It is important that we have the opportunity to make statements and have a debate on this very important social issue we have been grappling with for quite some time. I also wish the Minister of State, Deputy James Browne, the Minister and all their colleagues a happy Christmas. I thank, as other colleagues have, all the staff in this institution, and the Minister's staff in the Department, who he has kept especially busy over the past period. The Minister is one of the few people who is not too nervous as he enters this weekend. In fact, Deputy Boyd Barrett may have done him a favour this week with the no confidence motion, which turned into a confidence motion. His position is probably now more galvanised than ever. I wish everybody across the Chamber, and all those who support the work of this House, well over the Christmas period, in addition to a happy, healthy and peaceful new year.

As I said, this is an important debate. I welcome any initiative by the Government to help support people who require additional security and supports to keep a roof over their heads. There are a multiplicity of reasons the income thresholds have not been amended for a decade or more. We will see 16,000 more individuals and households captured by the increase in the income threshold over the next period. The Minister asked us to consider these measures in the context of the overall jigsaw that is Housing for All, an initiative all of us on the Opposition side of the House criticised and critiqued at length when debating the motion of confidence earlier this week.

We do not have faith that Housing for All will achieve even its own modest stated objectives. That is why we in the Labour Party believe that we should be spending at least €1.5 billion more on social and affordable housing next year. The reality is that, when we bring an additional 16,000 households into the ambit of the social housing scheme by way of changes to the income thresholds, we will still have too many people chasing too few properties in the private rental market. That, in itself, will have an impact on the economics of this matter. It is described as an interim measure. As the Minister said earlier, he intends to develop a more sustainable and modern model. That model needs to be capable of capturing changes in the employment market, changing wage rates and changing rates of inflation. It needs to be nimble and agile enough to respond to such changes so that we do not leave people behind, we avoid cliff edges and we avoid the poverty traps we experienced with the old rent supplement system.

Colleagues have mentioned individual cases they have been dealing with that illustrate the problems with the income thresholds and some of the issues in that regard. I deal with such cases all the time. I was recently dealing with the case of a family who are now being threatened with removal from the social housing system because adult children have returned in recent years, a situation Deputy Ó Broin referenced, which is having an impact on the overall net household income. As the Minister of State will understand, that is problematic. We need to be very conscious of this area given the reality and the lived experience of far too many people these days as a result of the inadequacy of housing supply and the reality of adult children in their 20s, 30s and, in some cases, 40s returning home to live with parents who are on a housing assistance payment by virtue of being on the social housing waiting list. I hope that any new model will reflect that reality and be able to absorb such circumstances.

I wish to make one more point, which is a significant one. The current system, with all its rigidities, does not capture this reality. There are three bands. That needs to be addressed while ensuring policy consistency across the system. I will raise an issue that routinely comes up in my own constituency. The challenge of house prices in the southern part of my constituency, that is, south Louth, Drogheda and east Meath, is more akin to that in Meath and north County Dublin. Housing happens to be much cheaper, albeit still not available to the extent that we would like, in areas like Dundalk and Ardee. I would make the case that any new system or model will need to take account of those realities within counties. I would make the case for intracounty thresholds to be introduced, reflecting the reality of the housing cost challenge within counties. I know this is something the Minister and the Department are aware of. It is a constant challenge for Louth County Council.

As I said at the outset, we welcome any initiative that is designed to financially support those who are in difficulty in keeping a secure roof over their heads or in obtaining housing. We look forward to working with the Minister on a new model that is sustainable and agile enough to respond to changes as they occur or at least on an annual basis.

See this speech in context