Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)

Senator Moylan's point is at the heart of this issue because the payments for rent supplement in 2000 were €150 million. This year they will probably exceed €400 million covering 59,000 households. Arguably the scheme has gone beyond its original intention which was to help young people. It also helps many who are not young who might otherwise not be able to provide accommodation for themselves. It was never intended to be a permanent solution but to be a support and get people to the point of having their own homes.

That is why the Government introduced the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and made a further commitment in Towards 2016 to the procurement of an additional 1,000 private units under the social partnership agreement, and that is under way. The affordable homes partnership has undertaken the procurement of up to 1,000 units of accommodation under public private partnership, PPP, on regional long-term contracts. By the end of 2007, up to 10,000 tenants will have come off the rent allowance scheme and will be transferred over to the RAS or some other type of social housing. That is important progress in taking the pressure off the RAS. My Department will this year transfer approximately €25 million, up from €24 million in 2006 and €19 million in 2005, to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government for the provision of RAS to assist it in providing that accommodation.

Of the 59,000 households on the RAS, 32,000 are eligible for assistance under the new arrangements. We will press ahead with the RAS and seek to provide more social housing and permanent housing opportunities. Life on rent supplement is neither easy nor a long-term solution.

Considering that it accounts for up to 40% of the entire rental market in the State, we must cap the amount of rent paid. We must adjust rents regionally and by size of apartment and recently did so. Otherwise, we would be responsible, through State expenditure, for pushing up rents and leases and, arguably, house prices, which would not help those it should help. Good progress is being made and the funds and people are being transferred from the rent supplement scheme to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government under the RAS.