John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I call on the Leader for a debate on the rental assistance scheme operated by the local authorities. While it is a good scheme, it is not the panacea we all thought it was going to be because it has its flaws. A lady in my area worked for years in a service industry and was never unemployed but for the last couple of years. She has a 16 year old son who is being bullied at school and who will be going to college in a year or a year and a half. She really needs work and we know there is absolutely no work in rural towns in the west of Ireland. The only work that can be had is in the larger urban centres, such as Cork, Galway, Dublin, Athlone and so on. The problem this lady has is that by virtue of being on a rental assistance scheme, there is no flexibility. If she wishes to go the Galway to get work to fund her child in college next year, there is no transfer policy, so she is caught and she has to stay where she is. If she decides to give up her house with the local authority and go to Galway to find accommodation in order to find work, she will be refused rent allowance.