Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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406. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the estimated cost of raising the current social housing income eligibility thresholds by €10,000 per year nationwide, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36740/24]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Housing for All, first published in Q3 2021, set out a commitment to review income eligibility for social housing. From this review, it was recommended moving five local authorities from Band 3 to Band 2, ensuring the income eligibility thresholds better reflect housing costs in those counties. Government also agreed to increase the baseline income thresholds by €5,000 for all local authorities with effect from 1 January 2023. The thresholds thus increased to €40,000, €35,000 and €30,000 for bands 1, 2 and 3 respectively.The review further recommended the commissioning of research to develop options for a revised or new social housing income eligibility model. My Department received this detailed research, commissioned by the Housing Agency. The scope of the research included examining the existing income limits in the context of current market and population conditions and the suitability or otherwise of the current framework having regard to the significantly changed landscape since the standardised income limits were introduced.

My Department is now undertaking a detailed examination of the report, in order to develop a new social housing income eligibility model in line with the Housing for All Action Plan update. This detailed examination will include consultation with stakeholders and will look at, inter alia, how the social housing income limits system interacts with other housing supports and ensure that they continue to target households correctly.

The information requested, which relies on a range of different data inputs and analysis, is not currently available as the considerations I have referred to are still ongoing in my Department.