Brian Brennan (Wicklow-Wexford, Fine Gael)

I represent the new constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, which straddles the border between south Wicklow and north Wexford. As with the rest of the country, in all areas of my constituency there are issues with housing supply and availability of rental properties that are impacting families and communities. However, depending on which side of the border they live on, my constituents will receive significantly different support from the State to assist with the cost of housing. If we take, for example, a couple with three children who are renting a home in the town of Carnew, County Wicklow, if they are eligible for housing assistance payments they can be awarded up to €1,250 on HAP per month to cover the cost of rent. If we travel ten minutes down the road to the neighbouring community of Craanford, County Wexford, a family with a similar composition and income level will be eligible only to receive a maximum payment of €600 under the same housing assistance payment. This is simply not fair and must be addressed.

This is due to the differences in the maximum monthly rent limits for the housing assistance payment in each local authority - for instance, Wexford and Wicklow county councils. The monthly asking price for rental properties of comparable size in both these rural areas is very similar. They would offer access to the same services in the community: schools, sports clubs, local shops, local buses - all that rural life has to offer. One big difference, however, is that the family in Craanford will receive €650 less in the housing assistance payment than the family living down the road.

Both these communities are located within the rent pressure zones, an acknowledgment in itself of the pressures on renters in an area where rents are the highest and rising and where households have greatest difficulty finding affordable accommodation. However, this does not appear to be taken into consideration with regard to the setting of the HAP limits, putting one family at a distinct disadvantage to the other.

The discrepancy gets even starker if you travel ten minutes down the road to Gorey. Gorey is a large, thriving rural town, a great place to live and work, as I well know. With the success of Gorey, however, comes even higher rents and even more pressure on supply. Again, the fact that the Gorey local authority area has been identified as a rent pressure zone is proof in itself of the demand for the rental accommodation in the town, but again, it is not reflected in the HAP limits. Gorey has traditionally had the highest average rent in County Wexford for many years, yet the renters in this town are faced with lower HAP levels than people living just over the border, putting them at a significant disadvantage compared with their neighbouring towns and counties. Yes, it is true that local authorities have the discretion to increase the HAP limits for renters on a case-by-case basis, but this is capped at 35% over the maximum limit and is often offset by a calculation of the tenant's ability to pay, so their hands are tied in terms of flexibility.

The fact of the matter is that we need people from all walks of life living in our towns and villages: workers, families and community members, not just the people who can afford these high rents. We need to support them accordingly and appropriately. We need to ask: is the system working? Is it fair that neighbours are asked to pay the same amount of rent but receive completely different levels of State support to help them pay that rent? Is the blanket approach to HAP limits on a county-by-county basis a reasonable, fair and equitable way to administrate this scheme? Clearly, looking at the disparity between Carnew and Craanford, it is not and we have to address this.

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