Alice-Mary Higgins (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I ask the Minister of State to respond explicitly on amendment No. 19 because none of what he has outlined is at odds with that amendment. It simply provides that the Minister would lay the rules before the Houses of the Oireachtas. I accept that amendment No. 20 sets out a criteria and one that I think is important but amendment No. 19 does not set out any specific criteria. It allows for exactly that nuance of different household types and different circumstances. Rather than tying us to specific amounts at a specific moment in time, it allows for a responsiveness as circumstances or the market change. Indeed, I hope the market will change. Under amendment No.19, all of the considerations outlined by the Minister of State can be factored in to regulations but it allows for more flexibility and a for a quicker response if the affordability matrix as we have been applying it is not working as we would wish. Is the objection based on the requirement for the Minister to come back to both Houses of the Oireachtas? In that context, I might reserve the right to suggest, for example, that it would be sufficient for the Minister to come back to the Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Either way, it would be appropriate to make regulations in this area rather than relying on a matrix at this flashpoint in time.

I also ask the Minister of State to comment specifically on the proposal on additional criteria that particular housing authorities may wish to attach. As the Minister of State indicated, there is a diversity of family and household types. If a housing authority knows, for example, that it has a huge cohort of single adult households, it may wish to focus on that part of the affordability piece. That might be something it wants to build in to the affordability criteria and a particular agreement or arrangement it might make. Notwithstanding his general response, I ask the Minster of State to comment on amendments Nos. 19 and 21 and to indicate whether there is any scope for engaging on those two.