I call on the Leader for a debate on the rental assistance scheme operated by the local authorities. While it is a good scheme, it is not the panacea we all thought it was going to be because it has its flaws. A lady in my area worked for years in a service industry and was never unemployed but for the last couple of years. She has a 16 year old son who is being bullied at school and who will be going to college in a year or a year and a half. She really needs work and we know there is absolutely no work in rural towns in the west of Ireland. The only work that can be had is in the larger urban centres, such as Cork, Galway, Dublin, Athlone and so on. The problem this lady has is that by virtue of being on a rental assistance scheme, there is no flexibility. If she wishes to go the Galway to get work to fund her child in college next year, there is no transfer policy, so she is caught and she has to stay where she is. If she decides to give up her house with the local authority and go to Galway to find accommodation in order to find work, she will be refused rent allowance.

This would seem more suitable as an Adjournment issue.

I am almost finished. The only option that is open to her, as has been advised to her by the local authority, is to present as homeless in Galway as she would be put into a homeless shelter. That is not appropriate for a mother and her 16 year old son, who is in school. She is effectively caught in an unemployment trap that she cannot get out of. This is why I am calling for a debate. We need to flesh out ways of resolving problems where people are genuinely seeking work and, by virtue of our own Government schemes, it is not going to happen. It is important that we have such a debate with the Minister of State, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, as soon as possible.