Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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This Topical Issue matter deals specifically with the issue of the income limits in place for social housing applicants. Many people are surprised to learn that social housing income limits are a relatively new concept. They were introduced, to its shame, by a Labour Party Minister after the financial crash. In my view, and I have yet to be corrected on this, they were introduced with a single purpose, namely, to reduce the number of people on local authority housing lists without having to go to the bother of actually providing them with homes.

Previously, in order to be allocated a council house, applicants were awarded points that considered pertinent facts, such as the length of time waiting and current living conditions, taking into account issues such as overcrowding or medical needs. Income was also a factor in determining how high on the list an applicant would be. Since the introduction of the limits, however, income has become not a consideration but a mechanism to prevent people from getting on the housing list at all. The limits have become symbolic of a cruel housing policy enthusiastically embraced by this Government. The fact that the limits have not been amended, apart from some minor exceptions, for more than a decade tells its own story.

I have previously told the House of some of the outworkings of this policy, such as the young single parent working in a low-paid job. She is currently living in her parents' home sharing a boxroom with her child and was provisionally offered a house last month. Her joy can be imagined but after she completed the paperwork she was informed that she exceeded the income limit by €1,500 a year or €28 a week. The offer of housing was withdrawn and, worse than that, she has now been removed from the housing list entirely meaning that should she reapply if her income reduces, she will go to the back of the queue. I have also told of numerous couples who have been removed from the housing list because one of them got a job. It is essentially that. In the county in which I live, Monaghan, a couple with two children cannot apply for social housing support if their earnings are more than €27,500 per annum.

Not satisfied with this cruel policy, the Department has changed its position and now dictates that it has to be implemented as harshly as possible. Income is considered across a 12-month period meaning a little summer overtime can result in removal from the housing list. The Minister committed to a review last autumn. He has received that review but rather than proceeding to change the income limits the issue has been kicked off to the Housing Agency, which has been asked to scope and develop options for a revised or new housing income eligibility model. It stands in stark contrast to the actions of the Government if it was told of a particular issue that was affecting an industry or a valued vested interest in the eyes of the Government. As this is affecting people at the coalface who are bearing the brunt of the Government's housing failures, it is delay after delay. I do not yet have any sense that anyone in the Government realises the absolute devastation these income limits are causing countless thousands of individuals and families. I hope the Minister of State can tell me that this scandal is about to end.

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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Ba mhaith liom buíochas a ghabháil leis an Teachta as an gceist seo. The overarching principle of social housing support is to provide adequate housing support to those households unable to provide accommodation from their own resources. Applications for such supports are assessed by local authorities in accordance with eligibility and need criteria as set down in the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated social housing assessment regulations. The regulations introduced a standard system for assessing applicants for social housing support in 2011 and established a fairer, more consistent and transparent approach to determining eligibility for support.

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 a fair and equitable system of identifying those households facing the greatest challenge in meeting their accommodation needs from their own resources, and ensuring constrained resources are available to those who need them most.

Housing for All was published in September 2021 and committed to reviewing income eligibility for social housing. The review, which examined inter aliathe efficiency of the current banding model and income limits applicable to local authorities, has been completed, and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has recently approved implementation of its recommendations. The review is now available on the Department's website. On foot of the review, the Minister has approved proposals to scope and develop options for a revised or new social housing income eligibility model. The exercise will assess the suitability or otherwise of the current framework having regard to the significantly changed landscape since it was introduced and will make recommendations for an approach to income thresholds that reflects current and future needs. This work will commence shortly under the aegis of the Housing Agency, as the Deputy said, which has been tasked with commissioning it and we expect that work to be completed by the end of this year.

Pending completion of this work, the Minister has approved changes to the social housing income eligibility bands. Five local authorities - Carlow, Clare, Galway County Council, Laois and Westmeath - have been moved from band 3 to band 2. Accordingly, the baseline income eligibility threshold for these areas has increased from €25,000 to €30,000. The change reflects the movement in rents in recent years in these areas and will ensure local authority areas with similar accommodation costs continue to be grouped together in their respective bands. The changes came into effect on 1 October this year. It is now appropriate to wait for the report I referred to before considering the appropriate income threshold levels for all counties and the potential impact of any changes that might arise.

Matt Carthy (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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We need to set some things out in order to avoid any confusion. Social housing tenants pay rent in direct proportion to their income. Despite the impression that is sometimes given of free houses, there is no incentive for wealthy people to apply for a council house because they will probably pay more rent than they would in the private sector and certainly more than they would for a mortgage. As they currently stand, income limits are simply preventing people who will never qualify for a mortgage from accessing the alternative means of securing a permanent home.

The Minister of State talked about the cost to the State of providing social housing. Therein lies a cultural issue that goes to the very heart of the Custom House, which is this notion that people are getting charity when they are allocated a council house.

They pay rent in direct proportion to their income. When done right there is no cost to the State. There is a substantial saving to the State because this year the geniuses who wrote this reply for the Minister are standing over the expenditure of more than €1 billion in private subsidies to landlords in order to cover up the debacle that has led to the overall housing crisis we have. The income limits are a small part but they are a cruel, harsh aspect of this policy in action. They are part of an overall policy that has led to the ghettoisation and demonisation of those who find themselves in need of housing support. The Minister of State referred to a scoping exercise which is to be completed by the end of this year. Will he give a commitment that action will be taken on that this year and there will be no further delays?

Malcolm Noonan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Green Party)
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I agree wholeheartedly with Deputy Carthy in the sense that there is a cost to the Exchequer. It is an outlay and an investment by the Exchequer in the provision of social housing. The Government has committed to and is front-loading record investment in social, affordable and cost-rental housing, more than any Government has provided in the history of the State. The Minister is deeply committed to that through Housing for All.

I fully agree that social housing is not charity. Families pay rent. It has been a very good model. The provision of social housing certainly declined in previous years and the State is playing catch-up and doing so at scale. It is critically important that this Government and Governments in the coming decades continue to invest in social and affordable housing.

The Minister has stated several times previously that he is committed to implementing these changes once the Housing Agency's scoping report and review have been completed. We recognise that the current models do not work and are not reflective of modern incomes and the modern needs of families. There is a commitment by the Minister and we will continue with the investment in social housing in particular. The State has done this very well through the decades. The phase we are implementing through Housing for All is a new one comparable with what happened in the 1940s and 1950s. We can do this at scale and it is critically important that we do. I give the Deputy a commitment, on behalf of the Minister, that this will be implemented.