Dáil debates

Thursday, 4 March 2021

Saincheisteanna Tráthúla - Topical Issue Debate

Social Welfare Benefits

5:20 pm

Photo of Jennifer Carroll MacNeillJennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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My colleague, Deputy Richmond, and I appreciate that the net issue around construction is a matter for the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. However, we want to deal with a specific issue relating to the financial impact of the shutdown of the construction sector. There are families who have been engaging in home renovation projects and who are renting other accommodation for the period of the renovation. The unforeseen additional shutdown of construction activity in the private accommodation sector has left them facing very considerable additional rental bills. Some families can absorb that additional cost but many of them are under severe financial pressure to bear it for three, four, five or even six months. They also need to plan two months in advance in order to give notice to their short-term landlord.

I want to flag this as a significant cost burden to the families affected which, in some cases, they are simply unable to bear. I am asking that the Department of Social Protection make additional needs payments available to them, whether under the supplementary welfare provisions or as exceptional needs payments.

It is a question of ensuring that if the families approach the Department or Intreo offices, the Department will be aware of their circumstances and the burden on them. The families would not necessarily present to the Department or Intreo in other circumstances but they are under particular pressure now.

We are aware that renovations and private home construction cannot be progressed at the moment. People understand that, although they look with frustration at the construction activity that has been going on, including in respect of housing adaptation and social houses, as important as these are. When it is one's own house that is being renovated and the works are subject to the vagaries of the wind and rain, meaning that jobs cannot be completed, and one is bearing an additional burden, it is very difficult. In my constituency, for example, there is an affected couple who recently purchased a private home in a new development. The home is at the final snagging stage but the deadline of 31 January could not be met. Had everything gone to plan, the couple would have moved in last month. They had been saving for a really long time but they just cannot afford the additional rent. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Joe O'Brien, for hearing us on this.

5:30 pm

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I am very grateful to my colleague, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, for allowing me to contribute on this important Topical Issue matter.

We are all aware that throughout this pandemic, people have sadly slipped through the gaps in terms of the supports available from the Government. We discuss these at length. Supports are available under the Covid restrictions support scheme and there are workplace supports for many employers and businesses, but a group that is really getting caught comprises those who have been having work done on their homes, as alluded to by Deputy Carroll MacNeill. The fact that much of the work was not counted as essential has left them in circumstances in which they must rent accommodation. They have to meet the cost of rent as well as pay a mortgage. They have to rely on borrowings and savings and they face a very difficult situation. We all know of the difficulties and uncertainties in the rental market, and we do not know exactly when the works can continue.

I am struck by two cases in my constituency. The first concerns a family who contacted me in January. They are having pyrite remediation works carried out on their home. The home has been stripped to the foundations and it is completely uninhabitable. The works have not continued and the family has to rent accommodation. They do not have family they can live with. Now the landlord is asking how much more time they want, and they are asking how they will be able to afford both the rent and the mortgage.

In the second case, a family in Stillorgan has taken off the back of their house to adapt it and construct a wet room for a child with severe special needs. They are living in temporary rental accommodation and the lease is up. The costs are mounting and the builders cannot do the work. The family is really starting to worry about how they will make ends meet, make rent payments, pay the mortgage and pay for the important work that needs to be done. It is not a case of people making a choice or opting for a luxury item; these are vital works. Those affected are in a quandary in that they are falling through the cracks and facing double payments in a very difficult situation. They absolutely need an emergency payment of some kind.

Photo of Seán Ó FearghaílSeán Ó Fearghaíl (Kildare South, Ceann Comhairle)
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I thank the Deputies for raising these really human dilemmas.

Photo of Joe O'BrienJoe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputies for raising this issue. I will give some context first. On 6 January, the Government announced that additional public health restrictions would apply under level 5 of the plan for living with Covid-19. The additional restrictions required all construction activity to cease from 6 p.m. on Friday, 8 January, with a number of exceptions. These measures are set out in the Health Act 1947 (Section 31A - Temporary Restrictions) (Covid-19) (No. 10) Regulations 2020, as amended.

With regard to private housing developments, the regulations provide that housing and construction works that were ongoing on 8 January could continue where the works required to render the property capable of occupation were scheduled for completion by 31 January 2021. The regulations also provide for the supply and delivery of essential or emergency maintenance and repair services to businesses and homes, including electrical, gas, oil, plumbing, glazing and roofing services, on a call-out basis. On 23 February, the Government announced that the current level 5 restrictions would remain in place until 5 April 2021.

People who cannot occupy their new or renovated home can apply for mortgage payment breaks. The banks have been asked to exercise, and generally are exercising, forbearance with regard to mortgage and loan repayments. In September the Central Bank reported that over 90,000 people were availing of mortgage payment breaks and that the overall number of people in arrears had reduced. Banks are obliged to follow the Central Bank's code of conduct on mortgage arrears, which involves a four-step mortgage arrears resolution process, MARP. Accordingly, in most circumstances a person who does not have the financial wherewithal should not have to face the challenge of covering both rent and mortgage or loan payments while awaiting the completion of a new home build or renovation. In addition, people can access the Money Advice & Budgeting Service, MABS, which is funded by the Department of Social Protection under the aegis of the Citizens Information Board, for support in utilising the mortgage arrears resolution process.

Protections are also in place to support tenants during the lockdown. A moratorium on evictions has been in operation throughout the country since 31 December 2020 and it is to last until 15 April 2021, with limited exceptions. The Department of Social Protection provides a range of supports to help people during the Covid-19 pandemic, most notably the pandemic unemployment payment, the employment wage subsidy scheme and the Covid-19 illness benefit, and it has introduced flexibility with regard to access to rent supplement. In addition, it provides supplementary supports where a person is experiencing financial hardship. These are, of course subject to a means test to ensure supports are targeted at those who need them most. For example, the exceptional needs payment scheme is available to provide supports to people who may be experiencing exceptional needs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Payments are made at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme, taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case. In considering whether to make a payment, officers consider the income of the household and the ability of the applicant to meet the need from his or her own resources. Exceptional needs payments are not subject to the habitual residence condition and payments can be made to those who do not qualify for other social welfare supports. Accordingly, any person experiencing financial hardship as a consequence of Covid-19-related constraints can and should access the community welfare service. Where a need can be established, we are there to help.

I thank the Deputies for raising this matter.

Photo of Jennifer Carroll MacNeillJennifer Carroll MacNeill (Dún Laoghaire, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for his response, which is very welcome. I will be sure to bring it back to my constituents who are suffering in the way I have described. They have faced an unexpected burden. Many of them have not had contact with Intreo services before and just may not be aware of the supports offered by the Government at different stages. I will, of course, refer to the Minister of State's speech when advising them. I will advise them to refer to it when they make contact with the Intreo offices.

As the Ceann Comhairle said, these are the very human dilemmas and cases related to the Covid experience that one just did not expect. They relate to the sorts of changes that had to be made under public health guidance. I encourage the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage to ensure that construction of the kind in question will be among the first categories of construction, if not the first, to recommence when possible. We recognise the reason construction had to stop but the human impact is quite considerable. The stress and strain of not knowing whether an extra month or an extra two or three months are needed is quite a burden when it is about family accommodation.

Photo of Neale RichmondNeale Richmond (Dublin Rathdown, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State. I welcome many of his comments. This is about the practicalities of individuals carrying out vital works that are unfortunately not classified as essential. I am referring to family circumstances that most of us in this House deal with every day simply through representations but we do not experience them on a personal level. The families do not have the time to go through a labyrinth of forms and various schemes.

I was a little concerned when the Minister of State referred to means testing. To what extent will means tests take into account factors such as having a mortgage in addition to having to pay rent? There is scope for expanding the rent supplement. I ask the Minister of State to work with the Minister for Social Protection to consider this expansion. To the Minister of State and me, this matter involves a short-term measure but for the families who are locked out of their homes on which they are doing vital work and who do not know how they will pay their bills at the end of the month, it is very pressing and concerning.

Photo of Joe O'BrienJoe O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Green Party)
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The exceptional needs payment scheme is available to provide supports to people who may be experiencing exceptional needs as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. I appreciate that current restrictions on construction have had a significant unforeseen impact on households that began renovations on family homes prior to the introduction of the current level 5 restrictions, and particularly on those who had to vacate their homes to seek alternative accommodation once renovation started. Those affected can access MABS, which is funded by the Department of Social Protection, for support in utilising the MARP. It is unlikely that financial support from the Department of Social Protection will be available in all cases where there are additional unforeseen rental costs associated with the ongoing shutdown of construction, which has prevented renovation work on family homes from being completed. The Department may be able to assist some low-income or welfare-dependent households affected in meeting these costs through the exceptional needs payment scheme. Any person experiencing financial hardship as a consequence of Covid-19-related constraints can and should access the community welfare service. Where a need can be established, we are there to help.

The exceptional needs payment cuts through a lot of red tape and form filling and is a relatively easy payment to apply for as it is generally accepted that it is needed quickly. That side of things should not cause a major problem for people. I thank the Deputies again for raising the matter.