John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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I raise a particular matter in relation to the overall housing crisis and Ballymun families who are trying to find accommodation within the Ballymun area. The Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 introduced a provision whereby regenerated areas could be exempted from the delivery of rent supplement to those who wished to apply in them. In 2008 a circular issued from the Department of Social Protection to the Ballymun office to ensure it would be prevented from allowing rent supplement within the regenerated Ballymun estate. I commend those who introduced the provision at the time, when it was the right decision. Ballymun was undergoing a massive overhaul in the largest urban regeneration project in Europe. It has been largely successful, notwithstanding the bee in my bonnet about the continuing lack of a shopping centre. I agree with Deputies of the day and commend the endless efforts they made to ensure a ban was imposed on allowing further rent supplement payments within the Ballymun area. The aim was to ensure people would come in to buy private apartments and that there would be a social mix in Ballymun. Whether that aim has been successful is a matter we will allow the people to decide.

My issue is that in 2014 we have a massive housing crisis nationally, particularly in Dublin and other urban areas. Zooming right down to Ballymun, we find that the rent supplement ban is still in place in Ballymun. I do not know if it is a good idea to remove it, but we must consider the issue. People come to me every week who cannot find a place to live. Some of them would be able to find private accommodation in Ballymun through the payment of rent supplement if the ban was lifted. I emphasise that I am not asserting that the ban should be lifted. I am seeking an in-depth examination to determine whether we need to review it. The fact is that there are empty apartments in Ballymun, while people from the area cannot obtain rent supplement and are forced to move elsewhere. We must find a solution to allow some of the vacant units in Ballymun to be occupied. I do not know exactly how many are vacant, but it is a matter people question. While I do not believe there are as many vacant as people say, we need an innovative solution.

I re-emphasise that I am not necessarily saying we should do away with the ban introduced in 2007, but we need a solution to address the needs of people living in Ballymun today. They do not have homes in which to live and are finding it difficult to find homes in their native area. Given that the matter is the responsibility of the Department of Social Protection, I ask the Minister if her officials can investigate alternative solutions through the rent supplement scheme or another payment process to solve the crisis faced by people in Ballymun in trying to find accommodation within their own area. We have people who do not have homes or are finding it hard to find them. We also have empty units in Ballymun. Can we solve the problem for local people?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support for eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. The overall aim is to provide short-term assistance, not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are approximately 77,000 rent supplement recipients, for whom the Government has provided a sum of €344 million in 2014.

Section 25 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 provides that a payment of rent supplement shall not be payable in respect of accommodation which is situated in an area notified to the Minister for Social Protection by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government as being an area of regeneration for the purpose of providing for greater social integration. In some ways, much of what the Deputy raises should be addressed to the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Deputy Phil Hogan.

The Minister advised in 2008 that, on the advice of Dublin City Council, the Ballymun area merited designation as an area of regeneration for the purposes of section 25 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007. Accordingly, with effect from 27 November 2008, rent supplement is not paid in respect of accommodation situated in the Ballymun regeneration area as set out by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. It was supported by the public representatives and the local authority. We are responding to a request from the local authority to the Minister.

The reasons behind the provision is to support Government investment in regeneration and to attain a good social mix between private, social, affordable and voluntary housing so that we do not have an area dominated by one kind of housing such as social housing and we get a good mix of people. The people of the area lobbied for the restriction on rent supplement in the Ballymun area and it was introduced with their agreement. The measures provided for in section 25 are not a blanket refusal of rent supplement in areas of regeneration. Specific provision is made to ensure people already residing in such areas and in receipt of rent supplement may continue to receive payment, and people already residing in the area who may have recourse to rent supplement in the future will not have their entitlement restricted. There are currently 180 recipients of rent supplement in the Ballymun area. It is not a total ban.

The ongoing designation of Ballymun as an area of regeneration is a matter for my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government. I am advised that while the physical regeneration element of the Ballymun project will be completed this year, the social regeneration programmes will continue beyond that date. Current considerations regarding tenure mix will continue and, for that reason, we have not proposed to change it. I have been in Ballymun with the Deputy on a number of occasions. If we receive advice from Deputies and the housing unit at Dublin City Council makes representations, we will be prepared to examine the matter in a way that best contributes to the continuing regeneration, given the efforts of people in Ballymun and of the regeneration agency, in ways that are supportive of it.

John Lyons (Dublin North West, Labour)
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I thank the Minister for her comprehensive response. In case anyone takes me up the wrong way, I am not asking for the rent supplement ban to be removed because that is not the right decision. The regeneration of Ballymun was about trying to create a social mix. We have an anomaly whereby people in Ballymun who cannot find a place to live but who can identify places in Ballymun where they could live, and who qualify for rent supplement, cannot avail of it in the area. We have a problem and we need a solution. I am aware that the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government has direct responsibility and it is under his instruction that the circular was issued from the Department of Social Protection to support the concept of regeneration. I will work with the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Social Protection to seek a new solution. Removing the ban on new candidates for rent supplement is not necessarily the best way because we need to keep in mind the social mix in Ballymun to create a good future for the area. Ensuring a good mix of people from all backgrounds was one of the major elements of the social regeneration, which will continue.

I am willing to take on and work with Dublin City Council, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Department of Social Protection to address the issue. We can come up with a solution to ensure local people from the area who are forced out due to current restrictions can find a new way forward. Perhaps some of the legislation being introduced by the Minister of State with responsibility for housing concerning the housing assistance payment scheme can be examined, and I will work with the Minister of State in that regard. I thank the Minister for taking the time to appear in the Chamber and I am delighted to see she is willing to work towards an innovative solution to address the housing needs of people in Ballymun.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I am interested in the Deputy's comment that local people believe there are empty private investor apartments in Ballymun. It would be helpful to get data on this point to find out how many we are talking about. Some 180 people are in receipt of rent supplement in the Ballymun area. The regeneration project has cost €750 million and it is one of the biggest investments by the State in the regeneration of areas. It is important that any actions taken enhance the regeneration and takes account of the huge amount of work that has been done. People such as the Deputy have put their lives and hearts into the new Ballymun we know today.

The latest figures from 2012 with regard to housing types in Ballymun suggest that 25% of housing in the regeneration area is owner-occupied, 56% is rented from the local authority and 2.5% is rented from a voluntary body. We want to make sure, although it is not the direct responsibility of my Department, that we keep a good mix of privately owned affordable homes and homes rented from the local authority or from housing associations. The critical issue is to establish, through the local authority or websites dealing with property, whether there are many such vacancies available. In terms of rent supplement, we are moving to a new model, the housing assistance payment, administered by the local authorities in conjunction with the Department of Social Protection in the initial stage. A pilot project is under way in Limerick and it may be that some variation will address the issues raised. It would be disappointing to hear of empty apartments at a time when people need them. There are many empty local authority apartments and houses owned by the four Dublin local authorities, and it distresses me when I see them boarded up at a time when people need those houses and apartments. The same is true if that is happening with private investors in Ballymun.

Michael Kitt (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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I call on Deputy Mick Wallace to defer his Topical Issue.

Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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I wish to defer the Topical Issue concerning building regulations until Tuesday, 27 May, when the Minister is available.