Housing Policy
Dail Éireann — 2026-05-19
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Séamus McGrath (FF), Cork South-Central

I again thank the Minister for that. I am encouraged by his words. I ask that this happen as quickly as possible. If a broader review is required, the Minister might increase the limits initially while that review is undertaken, because as public representatives we are all dealing with people who are on very low incomes but find themselves outside the limits. It is a disincentive to work; that is the reality of the situation. If people find themselves pulling back on their working hours, their working week and so on so that they stay within the limits, that is not good enough at a time when we need everybody engaging in employment to the best of their ability. This is currently a disincentive for people to work or to gain additional employment and so on. People do not want to find themselves in that position; that is my experience. They want to be able to fully engage in employment while also qualifying for social housing. As a State, that is what we should be doing, and it is what we did decades ago. People were working and still qualified for social housing. We need to go back to that model.
I welcome the Minister's words here this evening but I emphasise the urgency of this. It needs to happen.

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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