Sarah O'Reilly (Aontú) | Oireachtas source

The Minister is very welcome to the Chamber. The Government is drowning in dysfunction. The implementation of the accommodation recognition payment is another example of this dysfunction. The scheme was originally set at €400 per month, it was then doubled to €800 and the proposal now is to reduce it to €600. The Government has offered no clear rationale for this. The entire implementation of the scheme has been haphazard.

The accommodation recognition payment was introduced as an emergency measure to support those who made the admirable decision to open their homes to vulnerable individuals fleeing war-torn countries. Unfortunately, ARP payments are now distorting the rental market as the scheme is far more advantageous to landlords than renting to the private market. In many cases, landlords are receiving ARP as well as totally unregulated top-up payments. We should be trying to ensure there is fairness and equality throughout the country. We are putting other people in the rental market at a serious disadvantage. Young couples who are not entitled to the accommodation recognition payment are being locked out of the market, while others who are entitled to it can offer the payment to potential landlords as well as an additional sum from their own earnings.

I support the proposed amendments. It is only fair this scheme should be means-tested. There is no other housing assistance payment where a beneficiary does not have to be means-tested. We should always strive to support the vulnerable and those in need, but we must acknowledge that if people are now working here and earning a decent wage, they should not be eligible for this payment. We can offer humanitarian support while putting in place sensible measures that ensure money is not being paid out to those who are not in genuine need. I do not wish to see anyone at risk of homelessness but if these amendments are not supported, I will have to vote against the motion as the scheme in its proposed form is unjust and flies in the face of equality. If we are advocating for anyone to be treated equally, surely everyone should be means-tested.