2014-04-22 - Socio Economic Review 2014 - Full text and cover - FINAL

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saw another increase with 21,614 inspections being carried out. However this fell by almost 1000 in 2012 to 19,616. This should be monitored closely to ensure the momentum of enforcing regulatory standards is not lost. In 2012 of the 16,055 dwellings inspected, 7,348 were found to be failing to meet regulatory standards. This is a serious issue and needs to be tackled appropriately especially given the increasingly important role that this sector is playing in the housing scene in Ireland. The Government’s housing policy statement recognises the need to deliver a well regulated rental sector, ensuring that rental is a real housing option for everyone. Considering the growth in the private rental sector in Ireland, and bearing in mind the figures relating to the registration and inspection of these tenancies, further development of the work of the Private Residential Tenancy Board (PRTB) in regard to ensuring official registration of all private rented properties is necessary. While there have been huge improvements in regard to the regulation of this sector, given the increasing demand for private rented accommodation, the risk of an increase is substandard accommodation is a real concern. Social Justice Ireland believes that the Government must take the necessary steps to ensure that all local authorities carry out a reasonable number of inspections and enforce minimum standards. This will assist in ensuring the quality of accommodation offered by this sector is of appropriate standard. Beyond this, it appears that pressures are building in the private rental market in certain regions. Increasing demand for private rented accommodation, as illustrated (table 7.8), a decrease in availability, [Daft, 2013 indicating that the stock of rental properties on the market in Q3 2013 was at its lowest since the same period in 2007], added to increasing rents, the PRTB Rent Index Q3 2013, showed that rents increased nationally by 1.9 per cent on the same quarter in 2012. While, this rise is primarily driven by substantial increases in the Dublin market of 6.4 per cent on an annual basis, there has been an annual increase 0.5 per cent in rents for houses outside of Dublin. These trends underscore the questionable nature of pursuing the delivery of social housing through the private rental sector. In light of the changes relating to affordability and stock availability in certain areas, the ability to meet housing need through this tenure is unclear. These developments need to be monitored closely in order to establish whether recent developments are persistent. Rent supplement When rent supplement was introduced it was only intended as a short-term housing support for those who suffered a sudden drop in income. While there has been a fall of almost 10, 000 recipients over the period from 2010 to 2012, over time this programme has seen a massive increase in participants and costs as outlined in table 7.9. Rising form 59,726 recipients in 2007 to 87,684 in 2012, an increase of over 27,958, 7. Housing and Accommodation 155
esulting in this mechanism becoming a housing support for many. In addition, a large cohort of recipients are in receipt for prolonged periods of time. In December 2011 there were approximately 53,000 recipients of rent supplement for a period of 18 months or more. In December 2012 this cohort accounted for almost half the rent supplement recipients or 41, 670. These are the target group for the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) (Department of Social Protection 2011&2012). It is clear that people are in receipt of rent supplement for long periods of time as progression to other social housing provision such as RAS has not occurred. Table 7.9 Rent Supplement Cost and number of Recipients for 2002, 2007, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012 year Expenditure €000 Recipients 2007 391,466 59,726 2008 440,548 74,038 2009 510,751 93,030 2010 516,538 97,260 2011 502,748 96,803 2012 422,536 87,684 Source: Department of Social Protection (2012) Rent supplement operates under maximum rent limits. These should reflect local conditions and family composition. The review in 2013 established new maximum rent limits regionally which are in line with the most up-to-date market data available. The 2013 review increased these limits for a number of areas. Even though these limits have been increased, voluntary agencies [Focus, Threshold] expressed concern in the past that increases in minimum contributions towards rent supplement over a number of years has increased difficulty for some recipients to source good quality accommodation appropriate to their needs, forcing them into substandard accommodation. This is an issue of great concern which needs to be monitored closely. Plans are in place to move the operation of rent supplement from the Department of Social Protection to the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government developing a Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), this is due to be piloted in 2014. The Department states: ‘The housing policy framework contains the announcement of the transfer of responsibility in providing housing needs for long-term rent supplement recipients to housing authorities on a phased basis. A multi-agency steering group has been established by the Department of 156 Socio-Economic Review 2014
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S O C I O - E C O N O M I C R E V I
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TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction 7
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There are four key steps for such a
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• The first is macroeconomic stab
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In this chapter we will chart the b
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(O’Connor et. al., 2012: 69). The
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What are the reasons for the emerge
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produce greater and more lasting pr
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esembles the German tradition of or
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market, became the first country to
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the European Stability Mechanism (E
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Chart 2.11 Comparison of 10-year Go
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pressing concerns surrounding the l
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2.1.3 The Troika programme, 2010-20
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Table 2.6 - Poverty and Deprivation
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a reduction in total expenditure (i
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Table 2.7 - A policy framework for
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Chart 2.13 - Maturity Dates of Iris
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These figures are from an extremely
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A key part of Ireland’s industria
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Employment has finally begun to ris
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is becoming ever more urgent for Ir
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c) New Indicators Creating a sustai
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analysed in this section, indicates
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weekly income level will be counted
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Table 3.3: The numbers of people be
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Table 3.5 looks at adults only and
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This reflected the rise in unemploy
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2001. These are the years that the
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Table 3.11: Levels of deprivation f
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Moving to persistent poverty Social
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Chart 3.1: Percentage difference in
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the years to come (Mallon and Healy
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Chart 3.3: Ireland’s Income Distr
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Table 3.15: The distribution of hou
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Table 3.17: Gini coefficient measur
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Individualising social welfare paym
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for every euro earned the person wi
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• Provide substantial new measure
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Table 4.1: The changing nature of I
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Looking to the years immediately ah
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may be some return from a number of
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Taxation and competitiveness Anothe
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Reforming and broadening the tax ba
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Analysis of High Income Individuals
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with little benefit in terms of job
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Results from Census 2011 indicated
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• The major components of these a
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Standard rating discretionary tax e
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Although all of the income taxation
Page 105 and 106: demonstrates the equity attached to
Page 107 and 108: • Would incentivise employment ov
Page 109 and 110: this complexity vary but they are f
Page 111 and 112: S O C I O - E C O N O M I C R E V I
Page 113 and 114: This transformation in the labour m
Page 115 and 116: Table 5.3: Unemployment in Ireland,
Page 117 and 118: Previous experiences, in Ireland an
Page 119 and 120: The Live Register While the live re
Page 121 and 122: Even the most optimistic economic a
Page 123 and 124: The need to recognise voluntary wor
Page 125 and 126: - Ensure that the social welfare sy
Page 127 and 128: increasing taxation in Ireland has
Page 129 and 130: library services Libraries play an
Page 131 and 132: cent in households in the bottom 20
Page 133 and 134: the supply of these services. Socia
Page 135 and 136: Sports A report carried out by Inde
Page 137 and 138: developments. Complex regulation al
Page 139 and 140: Housing: a New philosophy Given the
Page 141 and 142: subsequent failure to implement a s
Page 143 and 144: Table 7.2- Population and housing s
Page 145 and 146: Social Justice Ireland believes tha
Page 147 and 148: or green areas and are located a go
Page 149 and 150: Table 7.5 - Mortgage Arrears Jun-12
Page 151 and 152: country. The most recent assessment
Page 153 and 154: (25 per cent) of households, with t
Page 155: Table 7.8 Percentage distribution o
Page 159 and 160: 2013 nearly 2000 units were leased
Page 161 and 162: Social Justice Ireland has also pre
Page 163 and 164: Housing and children Factors which
Page 165 and 166: • Government should also meet com
Page 167 and 168: poverty and Health Health is not ju
Page 169 and 170: life expectancy According to Eurost
Page 171 and 172: Health stating that it will not be
Page 173 and 174: Table 8.2 - EU 27 Expenditure on He
Page 175 and 176: Figure 8.1 - Expenditure on health
Page 177 and 178: older people’s services Although
Page 179 and 180: people in their own homes/communiti
Page 181 and 182: Children and family services There
Page 183 and 184: catchment areas and community menta
Page 185 and 186: The sustained high level of suicide
Page 187 and 188: • Continue to facilitate and fund
Page 189 and 190: Education in Ireland - the numbers
Page 191 and 192: with significant increases projecte
Page 193 and 194: for both individuals and the state
Page 195 and 196: cause of considerable concern for p
Page 197 and 198: Department has transferred responsi
Page 199 and 200: minimum of 30 per cent of all enrol
Page 201 and 202: costs, repaying such borrowing when
Page 203 and 204: communities. Census 2011 showed tha
Page 205 and 206: Refugees and Asylum Seekers Until r
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Social Justice Ireland proposes tha
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This emigration ‘brain drain’,
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Backbenchers have little control ov
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economic, social and community deve
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over many years by Government. In r
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seen as the key to resolving many a
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Ireland. The common good must be at
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downplay as externalities. Shadow n
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All areas of governance, from inter
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the failure by governments to imple
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natural resources is required to en
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climate policy across all Governmen
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economy. Capital investment will be
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environmental taxation. Eco-taxes,
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Rural and Regional Development The
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away from a focus dominated by agri
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Rural development and the challenge
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public services and rural transport
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to oversee six pilot programmes to
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Table 13.1: Distribution of Family
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Key policy priorities on Rural Deve
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addressed urgently as part of the C
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leaders promised to work together t
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In order to ensure good governance,
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• Sustainability should be the co
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vision of zero new HIV infections,
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as sufficient to ensure that everyo
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achieve his or her potential only i
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they live with sufficient income su
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Child benefit remains a key route t
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poverty by region and area Recent S
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the home due to a combination of th
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These results, which complement ear
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transition from boom to recession o
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until Budget 2005. At its first opp
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Table A4.1: Total tax revenue as a
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Effective tax rates To complement t
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Income taxation and the income dist
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Chart A4.3: VAT and excise duties a
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figure increased by almost one mill
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A7.4 Net Household Need 1993-2013 y
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Transport • Ireland’s car densi
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land use • In 2010, 10.7% of Irel
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goal 6: Combat HIv/AIDS, malaria an
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Browne, M. (2007) The Right Living
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Central Statistics Office (2006) In
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Daft (2013) Daft.ie rental report 2
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Department of Environment, Communit
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Department of Health (2012) Annual
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Environmental Protection Agency (20
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Eurostat (2013) Internet access and
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Healy, S and Reynolds, B. (2003)
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International Monetary Fund (2012)
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National Anti-Poverty Strategy (199
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Perkins, R., G. Sheil, B. Merriman,
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United Nations Programme on HIV/AID
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There is an extraordinary reluctanc
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2014-04-22 - Socio Economic Review 2014 - Full text and cover - FINAL

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