Rent supplements won’t solve the crisis
The scheme, which - as I stated previously and reiterate now - will only increase their misery.
It would seem I touched a raw nerve within the department, as I did when it tried a short time ago to victimise working widows. We all know what happened on that occasion - the department made a U-turn.
That aside, Carmel Fields, in her letter, is only touching on one aspect of the housing crisis - rent supplements.
May I remind her that there are two Government departments involved - hers and the Department of the Environment and Local Government.
I am reliably informed that no agreement has yet been entered into with the builders and local authorities (public/ private partnership) for the provision of social housing.
If this agreement fails to materialise what happens to the many families in search of social housing? Ms Fields admits that the €322m spent on rent supplement payments in 2003, if transferred to local authorities, could be spent in the manner they consider best suited to the meeting the long-term housing needs of people who would otherwise depend on rent supplement long-term. I agree.
Therefore, why not allocate a similar figure now to local authorities, thus allowing them to get on with the building of social housing. Tinkering about with the rent supplement is not the answer to the housing crisis.
Might I suggest that Carmel and her department enter into talks with the Department of the Environment on the question of land prices to allow this work to proceed.
The Government should allow local authorities access to inexpensive land for housing people on low incomes. I trust Carmel and her colleagues can help local authorities in this regard.
Cllr Noel Collins
St Jude’s
Midleton
Co Cork
