Damien English (Meath West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I was not talking about Fianna Fáil I was talking about Sinn Féin this time - just to be clear - because its Members keep saying we are ideologically opposed to it. That is not true. If it were the case, we would not be building the social housing we are building.

I accept there are difficulties with the rental markets - I have not said there are not - and I accept that rents are too high. We are trying to work on this as much as we possibly can. Again, housing assistance payment, HAP, was raised - mainly by Senator Gavan but also by others. Senator Coffey was right. The HAP scheme was designed to replace the previous rent allowance scheme, which actually prevented people from working. I believe at the time Senator Humphreys was involved in that along with then Tánaiste, Deputy Joan Burton-----