Failure of TDs to support SF amendments to Ukrainian ARP will mean unfairness and distortion of rental sector will continue – Matt Carthy TD

Speaking tonight after Dáil voted to extend the Ukrainian Accommodation Recognition Payment for another year, Sinn Féin spokesperson on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Matt Carthy TD, said that the failure of TDs to support a Sinn Féin amendment to the motion will mean that the unfairness inherent in the scheme will remain. He also said that the impact that the ARP is having on the rental sector will continue.

Deputy Carthy’s amendment sought to ensure that beneficiaries of the scheme would be means-tested, as is the case with every other housing assistance payment, that new APR entrants would be confined to those who open their own homes rather than premises that should be on the rental market and ban the practise of ‘top-up’ payments which further distort the rental sector.

He added that the rejection of the Sinn Féin amendment means that the unfairness and distortion of the rental sector will go on. He also called for an assessment of the money paid on the scheme to date considering the decision to reduce the monthly payment to €600.

Teachta Carthy said:

“There are now serious questions around the use of taxpayer’s money on this scheme and why the payment was increased to €800 in December 2022. The Minister must confirm that she will now carry out an assessment of the money spent on this scheme to date.

“Because, if the government now believes that the payment can be reduced to €600, people will rightly ask if there was ever a justification for having paid a rate of €800 per month since December 2022.”

Speaking during the earlier debate, Teachta Carthy said:

“The ARP is divisive, deeply unfair and must be ended in its current guise.

“At the beginning this scheme was an emergency measure to support those who opened up their own homes to people fleeing war and Sinn Féin commended all those who opened up their own homes.

“However, what we are now increasingly seeing is landlords in the private rented sector availing of the ARP because in many areas it is financially advantageous to them compared to renting to other potential tenants. They get a guaranteed lump sum monthly payment from the government, they can get top-up payments from the beneficiaries that are totally unregulated, and have none of the obligations that they would have for any other tenant.

“This puts other renters, including people who might be on lower incomes, at a severe disadvantage as this scheme incentivises landlords to rent their properties to Ukrainians, particularly in areas with traditionally lower rents.

“Until now there has been absolutely no acknowledgement from government about the impact of the ARP on the rental sector.

“Last week, Minister Foley confirmed to me in a reply to a parliamentary question that she had not sought any briefings, reports or analysis on the impact of the ARP on the rental sector.

“Given that this issue was repeatedly raised by myself and others it is totally unacceptable that no analysis of the impact of the ARP was carried out.

“But, in the same reply Minister Foley stated that the ARP was not interfering with the rental market; despite confirming she had no way of making that assertion.

“Now we are told that the government believes that a cut of €200 will reduce the potential impact on the rental market.

“The fundamental unfairness with this scheme is the lack of means testing. There is no other housing assistance payment whereby the beneficiary does not have to satisfy a means test.

“A Ukrainian person being housed under the ARP could be employed in a well-paid job – they could be working alongside other people, from anywhere else in the world, including Ireland; who have an equal need for housing. But one gets access to this unique support and the other doesn’t.

“That is exactly the type of unfairness that winds people up and creates the tensions that, quite frankly, we could do without.

“To compound the problems, Minister Foley has also acknowledged to me that her Department is aware that some of those who are receiving the ARP are receiving top up payments. The feedback that I have received, including from landlords, is that this practice is widespread and is further distorting the rental sector. The truth is that if top ups are not banned, then the proposed rate reduction will make no difference at all.

“I want to be clear that Sinn Féin doesn’t want any cliff edge that would put anyone at risk of homelessness – that is why we have been calling on government to address these issues since the last extension and why I have been calling on the Ministers to bring forward the proposed changes since January.”

Speaking after the vote on Wednesday evening, Teachta Carthy added:

“I am disappointed that TDs from other parties and independents failed to support the Sinn Féin amendment to only extend the ARP if the government committed to ban top-ups, introduce a means test and limit the new entrants to the ARP to people hosting in their own homes.

“Because of that, Sinn Féin voted against the motion because we cannot stand over the current unfair scheme.”