Jennifer Murnane O'Connor (Fianna Fail) | Oireachtas source

I firmly believe it, and I have said it to the Minister previously. The Minister can provide facts and figures but he must change the spatial strategy and not cap the population. If a builder in an area such as Carlow wishes to build social houses, the local authority must go to the Department and the first question the Department will ask is: "What is your cap on your population and what is your spatial strategy?". These are all the Minister's rules and regulations. The Minister will not solve the problems until he builds houses, and that is the area where the Minister is failing. The Department is not working with the local authorities. Every local authority is different and every local authority should be addressed on its own merits, but that is not happening.

Another pillar deals with HAP. The HAP has been introduced into the rental market and it is definitely making a difference. However, that difference is not balancing out the fact that there are no rental properties available. There is no building. I refer not only to my area but also other areas, because I have been dealing with other councils. People cannot find properties to rent due to the lack of houses. That is the biggest issue. Another problem with the HAP is that the Department is still using the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. As the Minister will be aware, if one is on a local authority housing list and the local authority has a RAS house, one is taken off the housing list and left homeless. If a person is on the RAS they do not qualify to go back on the local authority list. The Department is making people homeless.

I accept that the Minister has established the five pillars and that there have been small improvements, although I do not see many. The position is similar with the rent pressure zones. Again, they apply in the Dublin and Cork local authorities. I welcome that, but Carlow and neighbouring local authorities do not qualify. Who is setting the agenda for counties in rural Ireland to qualify for these rent pressure zones, because they are experiencing these pressures? I do not know where the facts and figures are coming from. This must be addressed. There is such a lack of information between the Department, local councils and councillors, and the councillors have no remit in much of this either, that there is a great deal of misinformation. I can outline a case involving the HAP. I was dealing with a person recently who is on a HAP scheme. Her landlord told her she had to leave because the property was being sold. Technically, however, the landlord has to give 18 weeks' notice in writing. It must be a legal letter. These letters are going from landlords to tenants but they are not legal. There is so much misinformation going back to tenants through local authorities and through the Department that the Minister must do something about it.

The five pillars are interlinked. However, putting so much money into the rental market when there is such a lack of supply of houses will not address the issue. Even with regard to homelessness, there are no refuges in most local authorities. A person who is homeless in Carlow tonight must go to Waterford because there is nothing in Carlow, yet there are so many empty houses. That must be addressed but it is not included in this pillar. For the long-term picture, when the Minister has so much money it must be invested in proper areas such as building, under a long-term plan through the local authorities. The main issue is that every local authority is different. The facts and figures coming back from the Department are totally wrong. I can give the Minister several figures and statistics based on my daily dealings with people. What the Minister is saying does not add up.

I ask the Minister to refer back to the Department and return to the House with proper figures. Let places such as Carlow and other areas in rural Ireland be included in the rent pressure zones and qualify for all the help that is available.The Government is creating a two-tier recovery. The fast-track planning measures only affect the bigger cities like Dublin, Cork and Limerick and do not affect rural Ireland. In rural Ireland, people do not build 100 houses at a time, although they would be delighted to do so. The Government is only putting a plan in place for the bigger cities and is forgetting the smaller counties that need more help. Places like Dublin, Cork and Limerick will thrive but rural Ireland will fall apart.