David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this topic and I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Burke, for being present to respond. This topic arises as a result of a family approaching me. I am sure colleagues have had similar cases where the principal earner is over the limit and cannot get a mortgage because of age, and where the income in the household is above €53,000. I welcome the tenant in situscheme. It is a very good scheme and I have directed quite a number of constituents towards it and it seems to be working quite well. In this case, however, the family cannot get a mortgage, their income is higher than the limit for the scheme, and they have to leave their home.

As in similar cases, there are adult children in the household. They will move out eventually but their income is also taken into account. In cases like this, I ask that the income of the adult children be disregarded. This would make a difference to a certain number of people who have worked hard all of their lives and who now find themselves in this position. In one particular case I am dealing with, there are adult children, including an adult child who has a disability. I am aware that the carer's allowance is disregarded, which is good.

I am looking for some clarity with regard to adult children who are in households. There are other circumstances where older tenants cannot get a mortgage, their houses are being sold, they have to move and they cannot find anywhere else to go. Perhaps the Minister of State will be able to tell me how many of these cases there are. Has the Department looked at this? I am aware that there must be an upper income limit at some point but perhaps €53,000 is a little bit low. In particular where there are adult children in the household, this may be something the Government could look at and disregard their income. The children might soon be moving out, maybe to go to college or to an apprenticeship. We all know young people want to move out.Their income should not be taken into account in circumstances like this.

I look forward to the Minister of State's response on this. It is a small niche issue that could be resolved quite easily by disregarding the income of adult children.

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