The Irish people are a generous and decent people and have been over the past number of years, with the provision of supports to people from Ukraine who are fleeing the war. This is right and just. The war unleashed on Ukraine is absolutely wrong. Aontú will support the reduction in the rate of payment under the scheme. The scheme that was created was uneven, unfair and discriminatory for those seeking accommodation or housing. It created a two-tier support system, which is unfair. This two-tier support system has threatened cohesion. It has caused anger and pushback among the general public. There have been reports of Facebook pages where Ukrainian nationals have posted messages looking for homes where they say they can afford the rent and they can pay an additional tax-free €600 on top of what the asking price is. Landlords are rational and they will make economic decisions to best suit themselves. Landlords have been more inclined to take on Ukrainian tenants over Irish tenants in recent years. This system is discriminatory. It gives an advantage to guests in the country over the people who have lived here for most of their lives. The fact that this is not being means tested is extraordinary. That we can have two people living on the same street and on the same wages but one of them is getting a further subsidy from the Government is shocking. The fact that many in this Chamber do not understand this is also shocking. We can have a Ukrainian family on a six-figure salary who can get the subsidy and a neighbour on a five-figure salary who cannot. I am very disappointed to see that the Government, the Social Democrats, the Labour Party, the Green Party and People Before Profit will vote against an amendment that wants to means test the payment, as an amendment also did on the previous occasion, and put it on a level footing with other housing assistance payments. Most parties will also vote against the proposal to protect rent-a-room tenants from eviction. It has been reported again that some landlords who wanted to take rent from the ARP scheme made way for that scheme by removing certain tenants in the rent-a-room scheme, which was also wrong. There is a disconnect in the Chamber among some of the parties in relation to these supports. The housing crisis is the Government’s fault. The lack of supply is the Government’s fault. Anyone who sat the leaving certificate economics paper just a few weeks ago will know that demand also has a role. It determines what rents are, the price of houses, etc. It is physics and maths and not ideology. We need to get to a situation where we equalise supply with demand. This means the Government building more homes but it also means making sure demand is not too much. To make sure we do not have a pull factor, it is important the services and the provision in this country are equal to those in other European countries, so there is fair distribution of people from Ukraine who need help.

Sentiment score: -0.00