Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

In including in Government policy the need for cost-rental and affordable schemes, the Government is acknowledging, rightly, that even if someone is over the social housing income threshold, that person still cannot afford market rents or prices. However, the delivery of cost-rental or affordable housing is pitifully slow. In my area, it is virtually non-existent. There is a cohort of people - working people - who are, if they find themselves facing eviction or unable to find accommodation that is affordable, in a very bad situation. They are driven into homelessness and obliged to sleep on couches, in cars and so on. What will the Government do for that cohort?

The Government should extend the tenant in situscheme to those above the social housing income threshold if they are faced with homelessness. The Government should extend eligibility for the housing assistance payment, HAP. As much as I disagree with the HAP system, it is better than nothing, but people over the social housing income threshold are not even entitled to rent support in the form of HAP and, therefore, are absolutely banjaxed if they are trying to find rental accommodation. Does the Taoiseach accept my point? If he understands that we need that middle tier of affordable housing, which is not there yet, does he accept that other supports need to be provided for the cohort in question? Increasingly, it is working people who are being driven into or facing homelessness.

See this speech in context