SEANAD REPORT: There was an argument for reducing the guideline figures for rent allowances in the private sector, the Minister of State for Environment, Heritage and Local Government, Mr Noel Ahern, said.
Available information showed that the current level of allowances was keeping the rental market up in certain areas of Dublin. This was the reverse of what had been intended by the scheme. Landlords were now looking for tenants on rent allowance because they could seek a higher price. That was illogical.
Speaking in the debate on the Residential Tenancies Bill, Mr Ahern said some people had complained because the Minister for Social Welfare had not raised the guidelines during the last two years.
In some areas the allowances were keeping rents high. "They should go up when the market goes up; they should go down when the market comes down," Mr Ahern said. Rents in the private sector had fallen by 7.5 per cent in the last two years.
Mr Tom Morrissey (PD) said the Minister for Justice was deserving of commendation for the passing of the citizenship referendum by a margin of 4 to 1. Already, indications were that asylum-seeking in this country had dropped by a further 50 per cent since the adoption of the Government's approach. Mr Morrissey urged that when the opposition parties were asked to negotiate on the terms of reference for the follow-up legislation, they should do so wholeheartedly.
Irish Times columnist Kevin Myers was praised for highlighting the absence of facilities such as toilets, service stations and lay-bys along motorways.
"You can travel from Cork and Limerick to Belfast, and not until you actually get to cross the Border to Northern Ireland can you stop to get petrol or to go to the toilet or to get a cup of coffee. I had not realised that," said Mr Feargal Quinn (Ind).
He said Mr Myers had made reference to what appeared to be a badly designed and ill-thought-out system.
Mr Quinn said a more effective road system design would help to reduce motorists' frustrations, which he believed were a contributory cause to road deaths. They should ask the National Roads Authority why roads had been built without facilities which would be regarded as normal.
Dr Martin Mansergh (FF) said it was only 12 months since the provision of substantial lengths of motorway in this country. What Mr Quinn had referred to was clearly the next step.
The leader of the House, Ms Mary O'Rourke, said that Mr Myers could be very annoying on occasions, but his column was always an enjoyable read.