Joan Collins (Dublin South Central, Independents 4 Change) | Oireachtas source

The Minister of State said that social housing support is provided for those most in need. Years ago, in the 1970s and so on, social housing was provided to bus drivers, train drivers, post office workers and shop workers on an average income. Such workers were able to go on the housing list and many got social housing. That has changed drastically in recent decades. The concept of a cost-rental model was initiated by Tom Healy of the Nevin Economic Research Institute, NERI, in 2018 and was supported by the St. Michael's regeneration campaign. It was based on inclusion for all, security of tenure and ensuring that the homes were affordable to those applying. The general concept was that the rent would be one third of people's wages rather than being based on inflation, the private market or anything like that.

I welcome the fact that the Minister is looking at reviewing the thresholds but he should seriously look at bringing in something that would help families that are currently not able to get on the local authority housing list or secure a cost-rental property. I do not know whether the Minister of State took notice of it but my point was about a family with a household income of €47,832. They were applying for the Dun Óir project in Kilternan. This project has a threshold of €1,450 a week for a two-bedroom home. The gap between this family's income and the cap on this cost-rental scheme is €55 a week. Surely that could be addressed through something like a cost-rental HAP. As a person's earnings grow, that payment could be reduced. That should be looked at because, if you go on the social housing list, you could be waiting ten years before you get access to a home.

See this speech in context