Michael Colreavy (Sligo-North Leitrim, Sinn Fein)
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Question 25: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government his plans to expand the criteria for assessment of housing need including income thresholds, in order to accommodate on housing lists those who have voluntarily surrendered their homes or have had their homes repossessed. [15647/11]

Willie Penrose (Longford-Westmeath, Labour)
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The Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act, 2009 provides for a new process of housing needs assessment for applicants for social housing support and empowers the Minister to make regulations setting out the criteria for determining the eligibility for such support. These criteria include, but are not limited to, income levels and the availability of alternative accommodation. Amended regulations are currently being prepared in my Department and it is proposed to include the unsustainability of a household's current accommodation under the terms of the Code of Conduct for Mortgage Arrears 2011 as being amongst the criteria to be taken into consideration in assessing need.

The same income thresholds will be in place for households who have voluntarily surrendered their homes or had their homes repossessed as all others being assessed for social housing support.