Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)

Here we go again. The Minister finally announced that there would be a recognition of the potential impact on the rental market months ago and he is still talking about himself and the Minister for housing bringing something forward at some unspecified time. What is really infuriating for so many people is the Government has yet to recognise that this scheme is deeply unfair. It provides a non-means-tested housing support to one group of people in need of housing that is not available to others. There is a situation where one person might be in employment, on good wages and is able to access housing support through the ARP and somebody else who might be on a lower income is not able to avail of it. Landlords tell me this is the absolute best in terms of their conditions because they have no obligations to the tenant and they can get a tax-free payment and top-up payments. For most of the period this scheme has been in place, the Government has refused to accept Sinn Féin's concerns or take on board any of our amendments. Now, the Minister is saying he recognises there are problems and he will bring forward some changes but will not specify exactly what they are or tell us when they will actually be brought in. It is time for real clarity and honesty.

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