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

I welcome the Minister of State, Deputy English. I have raised on many occasions the serious issue of the local authority threshold being too low to allow people to access the housing list. Carlow has one of the lowest thresholds in Ireland. Over 1,000 people are on the housing waiting list in the county. They have met the criteria, including the €27,500 threshold to be eligible to go on the Carlow County Council housing list. Many people are living at home in cramped conditions. They have nowhere to go because they do not qualify for social housing or a mortgage. They do not earn the right amount to satisfy either set of criteria. Eight years have passed since the last review. I understand that a new assessment was due to be made last summer. There is an urgent need to finalise this review and to increase the income eligibility limits for social housing in Carlow and - most likely - in other counties. I assure the House that there are no millionaires out there looking for help. I am talking about people in real families who work hard but are not getting a break. I have been told that the review was due to have been completed already. I am still waiting. People around the country are waiting. I want to know what is happening with the review.

Today is far different from eight years ago because we are in a housing crisis. I would like to know whether the qualifying thresholds are realistic. I do not believe the threshold in Carlow is right. We are unwittingly excluding genuine people who should qualify for social housing. It is unacceptable that people who are trying to work and make ends meet are being told that they do not qualify for the housing waiting list. I was recently contacted by a family that was looking for help. As the family's weekly earnings of between €350 and €400 are over the income threshold, it does not qualify for registration on Carlow County Council's housing waiting list. I am worried because I am being contacted by families that are getting family income supplement but are not qualifying for registration on the housing list because €27,500 is too low. I would say it is the lowest threshold in the country. The other problem is that there is no appeals mechanism. It does not matter if one exceeds the €27,500 threshold by €10 or €20 - there is no appeal and one cannot go on the housing list.

I have consistently raised this issue and I have been told it is being looked at. People in Carlow who are in the low-cap zone are caught in limbo because they do not qualify under the social housing income threshold and they do not earn enough to take out a mortgage. I am sure there are people in other counties in the same position. We are meeting people who do not qualify for mortgages or the housing list. They are in limbo. This is a huge issue. I consider this to be another form of homelessness. These people are receiving no support. I need answers. Given that we are in a crisis, it is extraordinary that the Government is not allowing families that are under intense financial pressure to access rent allowance or housing assistance payment. We are condemning people to being unable to avail of social housing.At the same time, those people have no chance of getting a mortgage to buy their own home. Will the Minister of State clarify whether the review has been done and if it is ready? What will be the increase in the threshold for Carlow County Council? In the past eight months, this has been the biggest issue I have been trying to address with regard to the housing crisis. As I do not have any answers, I tell people the review was to be done in the summer but there is still no answer. The threshold in Waterford is €35,000, in Kilkenny it is between €32,000 and €33,000 and it is even higher in Kildare. In Carlow, however, it is €27,500. It is not possible for people to qualify for the local authority housing list.