Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance) | Oireachtas source

Will the Minister explain the logic of this provision? My priority and I suspect the priority of all members is the people who are being housed. It is proposed in section 38 that the local authority does not have an obligation to the landlord and that seems to fly in the face of the Minister's comments on preventing arrears through direct deduction. If the policy is to avoid top up payments to the landlord because the balance over and above the rent support will be deducted from people, does it not follow that the rent owed to landlords will not arise?

As I understand the scheme, and it seems to make the RAS scheme permanent, the local authority will pay the rent to the landlord, so how can it not be obliged to pay the rent?