Housing Policy
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-19
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Eoin Ó Broin (SF), Dublin Mid-West

First, I fully agree with my committee colleague. In the Minister's consideration of this, it should not just be a question of the limit. When the Minister spoke about this at committee before, he was also looking at possibly linking the eligibility thresholds to some metric, and I have given that some thought since the committee meeting. Given that social housing is typically for a set percentage of households depending on their income, EU-SILC data, which is updated every year, could provide a useful link.
In addition, I urge the Minister to look at the income disregard. We have a situation where, for example, the State awards the working family payment because it recognises that the working income of families is too low to meet an adequate standard of living, but that can then push them above the threshold. It is the same with disability allowance. We also have a larger number of working adult children forced to live at home because of the housing crisis, which can also result in families losing their position on the list. I am talking to colleagues in my own parliamentary party, and I am sure the Minister is doing likewise, who are having constituents removed off the list and they have no other option. This is something we would be keen to work with the Minister on, but it is quite urgent.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/dail/2026-05-19/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-09-28T05:50:46+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-05-19