Mark Wall (Kildare South, Labour)

I take the Minister’s reply. I acknowledge the fact that the fuel allowance has been extended to working family payment recipients, because they are in low-income families who need all the help they can get in what are housing and cost-of-living crises. I hope that if I can give the Minister three or four examples of what has been happening over the past two weeks in Kildare South, he will examine the matter again. I am sure it is not just happening in Kildare South. Maybe we are just targeting Kildare South. The affected families are genuine families. In many cases, a loved one, a son or daughter, will have left home to make a life for himself or herself but, for whatever reason, has come back under the roof again. They are in a housing emergency. Who is going to turn away their son or daughter? By putting a roof over the head of their son or daughter again, they are losing the payment.

It is causing a lot of strife and concern in families and it is hitting the lowest income families in my area. I hope the Minister, when I bring some examples to him, can look at this further.

See this speech in context