John Kelly (Labour) | Oireachtas source

I welcome the Minister to the House and I have a number of issues to raise regarding rent caps and housing in general. I hope when she becomes leader of the Labour Party, she might address all of these with her Cabinet colleagues.

There are some counties where the rent caps are far too low and as a result, many people cannot acquire proper accommodation, ending up either in substandard accommodation to meet the rent cap or subsidising rent to a greater degree by paying a landlord extra money under the counter so they can get the accommodation. We must consider that issue. When people find themselves in substandard accommodation - God knows we have plenty of it - they may not qualify at any stage for the rental accommodation scheme because a council would deem the property unsuitable.

We have been on the campaign trail for the past number of months and I found it strange that there was an amount of vacated local authority houses in my area. I asked why this happens and the answer is that local authority rents are too high. If a person earns €500 per week, €100 would be paid to the county council but at the same time a person can go to the private rented sector and get a house for €80 per week; the rent cap appropriate to the person may be less than €70. The issue needs to be dealt with on a cross-departmental basis.

I welcome the youth guarantee. There are many unemployed people who do not get the dole because they live with parents, so will they be part of the youth guarantee scheme? I met a man I know this morning on the way to work. He is in his 60s and he cannot get into a community employment scheme because he is not in receipt of the dole as his wife has a job. I feel sorry for such people because they are all willing to work, and there are many more unemployed people than is reflected in the register.

I have always had an issue with the prerequisite of going on the housing list in order to get rent allowance. That list is inflated and thousands of people on it are not seeking local authority housing. We get hammered by the Opposition when it points out the number of people on the housing list but thousands of those people do not want local authority housing and are only on the list to qualify for rent allowance.

Another issue was brought to my attention, although it is not really the responsibility of the Minister. It must be considered nonetheless. A lady is on the rental accommodation scheme and has worked in a service industry in Ballaghaderreen for years, although she is currently unemployed. There is no work for her in the town and she is a single mother with a 17-year-old child who she hopes will next year go to college in Galway. She tried to get a transfer from the Roscommon local authority district to Galway so she could get work and put her child into college there. She was told the only way she can be considered by Galway County Council for the rental accommodation scheme is if she presents to the authority as homeless. Such issues must be dealt with and there must be a policy between local authorities to accommodate transfers of people who are genuinely seeking work. This girl will never work again unless she can go to a town where work is available. I thank the Minister for listening.