Health boards can refuse rent allowance to anyone not already renting for six months, unless he or she is homeless. This is guaranteed to make people homeless. Where are people supposed to get the rent for six months when they are in private rented accommodation and getting no subsidy whatsoever? This will throw more people on to the streets. The crèche supplement, covering the cost of emergency child care, has been scrapped. The diet supplement for people with special dietary needs is to be phased out over a period of time. Entitlement to the half-rate of unemployment and disability benefit is to be scrapped where a claimant's spouse or partner has gross income in excess of €300. The earnings threshold for the payment of reduced rates of disability and unemployment benefit is to be increased from €88 to €150. Underlying insurance contributions will require an increase from 39 to 52 weeks for a person to qualify for disability or unemployment benefit and health and safety benefits. The maximum duration of unemployment benefit is to be reduced from 390 to 312 days where a person has less than 260 PRSI contributions. This is the most inhuman and regressive set of cuts ever announced by a Government and has occurred a mere few days before the Society of St. Vincent de Paul at its Christmas launch, at which the Taoiseach was asked to preside, indicated that there are 300,000 households in which children and families are living on less than €170 per week.