Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I echo the sentiments of Deputy Creed as raised in the previous debate and I urge the Minister, Deputy Foley, to expedite sites for Le Chéile and Gaelscoil an Chaisleáin.

I appreciate the presence of the Minister of State, Deputy Noonan. I am disappointed the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is not here because this is a significant issue and it has slipped under the radar somewhat. It is having very real consequences for families. I will give the Minister of State the short version. Families who are under the income thresholds for social housing are being removed and excluded from applying for social housing. They are being taken off list because of a circular the Department issued. This is the long and the short of it. The Department has issued a circular that is now forcing local authorities to take a very blunt approach, not of their own volition but at the Department's behest. It means that people with eight, nine or ten years' credit are being removed even though their income falls below the threshold.

This came about in March when the new household means policy was introduced. It replaced the 2011 policy, which has some detail on what is accessible and what is not accessible. This is not the only problem with it but I will focus on this particular element today. It is high time the income thresholds were reconsidered and brought up because there are so many families for whom a private mortgage is impossible. Some of the affordable housing schemes are also out of reach but they do not qualify for social housing. This needs to be revisited.

Even for those who should be able to qualify, there is now a new complication because the main revisions to the household means policy issued on 26 March 2021 include that a number of payments are to be included in the disregards, such as income relating to pension-related deductions. The key issue is that according to the circular the determination of whether an applicant household meets the income criteria will now be based on a calculation of the preceding 12 months net average income prior to the date of receipt of application. It states this will ensure the most comprehensive picture of a household's current and previous income is available at the point of assessment. This is the new policy.

The Minister of State knows that families and households have peaks and troughs in their income. It will not be a uniform picture all the time, especially in the context of the pandemic but not only in this context. People get periods of overtime, people get laid off, people are given reduced hours and people's hours are increased. This changes all the time. A person's income might be at four or five different places within one year. Previously, under the 2011 policy, local authorities were asked to assess the income. Of course, 12 month's worth of financial details needed to be submitted and appraised but income at the point of application, review or offer was key to the decision and it was on this that ineligibility was based.

I have come across an example of a family that has been removed after eight and a half years on the housing list. It has now lost all of this time. The family is now under the income limit, having briefly exceeded it if it is averaged out, but it is now under the income limit and it has lost all that time. Members of the family are going to their respective parents in two different locations in order to save. Another family on the list for seven years suffered a major drop in income and was made an offer which was refused on the basis of this circular. This is denying families. I do not know whether it always percolates to here that credit time is money in the bank for people and if it is taken off them they cannot just regain it.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I thank the Deputy for tabling this matter, although the response may not exactly be on topic in terms of the specific issue he has raised.

Applications for social housing supports are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended. The 2011 regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority in three different bands according to the area concerned. The income bands are expressed in terms of a maximum net income threshold for a single-person household, with an allowance of 5% for each additional adult household member, subject to a maximum allowance under this category of 10%, and, separately, an additional allowance of 2.5% for each child.

It is important to note that the limits introduced also reflected a blanket increase of €5,000 introduced prior to the new system coming into operation, in order to broaden the base from which social housing tenants are drawn, both promoting sustainable communities and also providing a degree of future-proofing. Given the cost to the State of providing social housing, it is considered prudent and fair to direct resources to those most in need of social housing support. The current income eligibility requirements generally achieve this, providing for a fair and equitable system of identifying those households facing the greatest challenge in meeting their accommodation needs from their own resources.

As part of the broader social housing reform agenda, a review of income eligibility for social housing supports in each local authority area has commenced. The review will have regard to initiatives being brought forward in terms of affordable housing for purchase and for cost rental. The programme for Government commits to putting affordability at the heart of the housing system. Delivery on this commitment is evidenced in the measures contained in the Affordable Housing Bill 2021, which is before the Oireachtas. It provides for three schemes that will increase the supply of affordable homes, through affordable homes on local authority lands, the introduction of a new form of tenure in cost rental, and the new affordable purchase shared equity scheme.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I would appreciate it if the Minister of State addressed my point rather than just use a script. It is not going to be a complete solution by any manner or means but he can help if he can tell me that local authorities have discretion to take account of a change of circumstances in income, that they can take account of where the household income is at the point at which people are offered accommodation, the point where people are being assessed for an initial application or whether there is a review happening.

In general, we must be much more realistic and flexible with respect to the income thresholds. Credit time for housing is like money in the bank for people. If a person qualifies for eight out of nine years and for one year he or she does not, we should be looking for a freeze for that single year. It is not that a person would be getting offers if he or she exceeds it but that he or she keeps his or her credit time because a person could well return to it. A person could have one good year out of ten. However, that is an aside. We must be much more realistic and pragmatic and the income thresholds must be revised. What I really want to know from the Minister of State is whether local authorities can be realistic. Can they assess a person on the basis of his or her current income? The last 52 weeks matter and must be taken into account but have the authorities discretion where a person's circumstances have changed significantly? I know there is a PUP disregard but far wider changes to circumstances are possible. These could include overtime that disappears, redundancy, changes in hours and all of these kinds of things which used to be taken into account. This is now denying houses to people in my constituency and in many others too.

This circular probably needs to be revised but the Minister of State can help in the meantime. He could tell me local authorities can have flexibility to decide a change in income circumstances is to be taken into account.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The Deputy has raised a significant issue. The review of income thresholds is under way. Within the frame of that it is important the issues raised this morning be given consideration. I apologise again to the Deputy; perhaps the question did not frame exactly the response he sought but there could be a follow-up with the Department. I urge him to make this representation through the review of income thresholds which is under way. It is probably the best place to try to give consideration to the flexibility the Deputy is seeking on behalf of his constituents. It is an important matter. The credit that people on the housing waiting list build up over a number of years is significant. I again stress that the review process is probably the best place to try to give consideration to that.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Go raibh míle maith agat.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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Will the Minister of State clarify, because it is the main thing, whether local authorities have the flexibility-----

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy-----

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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He has time.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Deputy, there is no provision to come in again.

Donnchadh Ó Laoghaire (Cork South Central, Sinn Fein)
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I ask the Minister of State to answer the specific question about flexibility for changes to circumstances.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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There are a few seconds left if the Minister of State wishes to respond but if he is finished, he is finished.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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The best place to deal with this is through the review process. Go raibh maith agat.

Catherine Connolly (Galway West, Independent)
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Go raibh maith agat.