Housing assistance payment Bill
Seán Ó Fearghaíl asks when the housing legislation will reach Committee and Report Stages, warning that it could remove people from housing waiting lists; the Taoiseach says it is awaiting Committee Stage and describes the payment as an employment incentive.
Good. Let us hope I keep up that tradition. The housing (miscellaneous provisions) Bill is currently before the House. I understand it is at or about to complete Third Stage. It is an interesting Bill not least because it envisages people currently on rent allowance moving to the local authority-----
Comment on this
-----where they will be in receipt of a housing assistance payment. Clearly, the intention of the Government is to disappear 77,000 people off the housing waiting list.
Comment on this
Under the Bill, as envisaged, those people will no longer remain on the local authority waiting list. Can the Taoiseach tell us when is it proposed to take Committee and Report Stages of that legislation, which has the most fundamental significance for the 90,000 people on the housing waiting list throughout the country?
Comment on this
This is awaiting Committee Stage. The housing assistance payment scheme is designed to help people who move from unemployment to employment. Under the current system, all rights and facilities will be lost. The housing assistance payment is a tapered scheme to provide an incentive and encouragement for people to get back into the world of work. It is a scheme which, I imagine, Deputy Ó Fearghaíl supports strongly.