Income bands for social housing in Mayo 'are being examined'
Taoiseach Micheal Martin made the comments while on a visit to Mayo.
Taoiseach Micheál Martin has confirmed that Housing Minister James Browne is examining the current social housing income thresholds amid growing calls for the limits in Mayo to be increased.
Speaking during a visit to Castlebar last Friday, Mr Martin said he had held a number of discussions with Minister Browne over the past six weeks on the issue.
He also told the Dáil earlier this month, in response to Mayo Fine Gael Deputy Keira Keogh raising the matter, that he was in favour of increasing the threshold “significantly and substantially”.
Mayo currently sits in Band Three of the social housing income thresholds, meaning a single applicant must have a net income below €30,000 to qualify. Neighbouring Galway sits in Band Two where the limit is €35,000.
The disparity between Mayo and Galway has been raised at several recent council meetings, with councillors arguing that Mayo's lower income threshold is leaving many working families caught between qualifying for State support and affording housing on the private market.
At the May meeting of the council, Cllr Patsy O’Brien described the banding system as discriminatory and called on the local authority to write to Minister Browne to ask for a review of the income limits.
It was raised again at the June meeting of the Castlebar Municipal District where Cllr Harry Barrett asked that the council write to Minister Browne to "plead with him" to increase the income bands "as quickly as possible".
Cllr Barrett said families were finding it increasingly difficult to access housing supports, including social housing, the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) and the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), due to the current income limits.
He spoke of a family with a net income of €38,400 and four children who, he said, "can't get a single scrap of help from the state" because Mayo remains in the lowest income band.
"How can a family going out to work in this county earning that kind of money, pay the bills, pay the childcare, pay all the utility bills, how are they to survive with an income threshold that low?" he asked.
Earlier this month, Deputy Keogh raised the issue with the Taoiseach and said that the current threshold in Mayo is "locking people out of social housing for earning too much, meanwhile they are not earning enough to survive the private market".
Responding at the time, Mr Martin confirmed that Minister Browne is examining the current system and will report back to the Dáil with proposals.
Asked by the during his visit to Castlebar if there was any update on when proposals to increase the limits would be brought forward, the Taoiseach said Minister Browne is in the process of examining the national income thresholds.
He added that "nothing is simple in life" and warned that raising the threshold could have "unintended consequences" that would need to be "examined and worked out".
