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

This is about the discrepancies between rent caps in neighbouring counties, which mean one family pay twice as much as another living next door to them. I and other elected representatives have written to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government on this matter in the recent and historic past. I am sure this issue has arisen in many counties and townlands.

I will target my area of Carlow and its neighbour, Laois. In the townland of Graiguecullen, both local authorities share an estate. It is at the end of Carlow and borders Laois. This has been a very good arrangement and proof that working together achieves great results. This estate is one to be proud of. The issue I want to discuss is the difference between what some families are paying in local authority rents and what their neighbours are paying. Included in this discussion will be references to the housing assistance payment, HAP, and the system surrounding HAP regarding local authority housing. Residents in this shared estate under the Laois authority have their rent capped at €93 per week, but if they are a resident under the Carlow authority the cap is €180.

Added into this estate there are also a number of private houses for rent, and these households, which are in co-operative housing, should be able to apply for HAP but they are not allowed. Some of the private homes are actually co-operative homes and tenants in these cannot receive HAP. Co-operative Housing Ireland is a Government body, so why can a tenant in a Co-operative Housing Ireland house not qualify for HAP? Why are they removed from a council housing list because they are in co-operative housing? It just does not make sense that, in the midst of a housing crisis and when we have mechanisms in place to help people, that we are not helping them but pushing them into poverty. These people do not qualify for the local authority housing list so they pay €1,200 a month in rent. They cannot afford a mortgage because they do not have enough savings. I have raised the massive issue of local authority thresholds being too low to allow people to go on the housing list, but it has not been addressed, which is staggering. There are well over 1,000 people on Carlow's local authority housing list, but a review is under way so I expect the figure to be much higher.

Almost eight years ago the Department carried out a review of the social housing income threshold.For nearly a year and a half the Minister, Deputy Murphy, and the Minister of State, Deputy English, have promised that it would be reviewed. Last September, they told me that it would be ready and it has not happened. I understand the frustration and do not want to give out to the Minister of State, Deputy D'Arcy. The thresholds to qualify are unwittingly excluding people who should qualify for the social housing lists. It is unacceptable that people who are working and doing their best are caught in the net. They do not qualify to go on the local authority housing list and they do not get a mortgage. The biggest issue here is that we have one of the lowest caps for local authority housing, at €27,500, while our neighbouring counties Laois and Kilkenny are over €30,000. It is unfair. We now have a situation where if a person pays rent as a Carlow local authority tenant, that person is capped at €180 a week, compared with Laois at €93.