Pat Deering (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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267. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the details of the financial criteria to quality for a local housing list; if he will review the financial limit for acceptance onto a housing list (details supplied) and introduce a window of discretion on the income amount in view of the fact that if a couple is even €1 over the limit they do not qualify for inclusion on the housing list; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11446/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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For the purpose of assessing households under the income eligibility criteria, the Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended, prescribe the maximum net income limits that can be set by each housing authority to be applied in assessing an applicant’s eligibility for social housing support. The 2011 Regulations do not provide housing authorities with any discretion to exceed the limits that apply to their administrative areas and I have no plans to amend the position in this regard. The limits are broken into three different bands according to the authority area, with in come being defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy. The income bands and the authority area assigned to each band were based on an assessment of the income needed to provide for a household's basic needs plus a comparative analysis of the local rental cost of housing accommodation across the country. The limits also reflect a blanket increase of €5,000 introduced prior to the new system coming into operation, in order to broaden the base from which social housing tenants are drawn and thereby promote sustainable communities.

Under the Household Means Policy, which applies in all housing authorities, net income for social housing assessment is defined as gross household income less income tax, PRSI and the universal social charge. The Policy provides for a range of income disregards, and housing authorities also have discretion to decide to disregard income that is temporary, short-term or once off in nature.

I am satisfied that the current income limits generally provide for a fair and equitable system of identifying those households unable to provide accommodation from their own resources. These limits will continue to be kept under review by my Department, as part of the broader social housing reform agenda set out in the Social Housing Strategy 2020.