asked the Minister for Local Government if he is aware that grave discontent exists amongst the tenants of the new cottages in County Dublin due to the high rents and the working of the differential rent system; and, if so, whether he will have examined the possibility of fixing the rent in each case to be at the rate of 10 per cent. of the householder's earnings and have no charge on the family.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Differential Rent System.
The first part of the Deputy's question was the subject of a reply by me to a similar question on the 23rd November, in the course of which I pointed out that the present system of graded rents in County Dublin is subject to review by the county council at the end of the present year. As regards the second part of the question, the introduction of a new system or the amendment of the existing one is a matter for the county council in the first instance.
Can the Minister give any direction in this matter at all? We have here a Minister representing the Government and the Labour Party but does the Minister consider it fair that a road worker who got an increase of 5/- a week in County Dublin should have 3/6 of that 5/- taken off him by the county council for additional rent? That is the system of differential rents that is in operation in County Dublin. I ask the Minister to go into the matter again because people are in a bad way as a result of the manner in which the differential rent system is being operated in the county.
I want again to assure the Deputy that it is not a differential rent system but a system of graded rents that is in operation in the county. The system, as I have stated, is subject to review by the council at the end of the present year. It is entirely a matter for the council. The Minister does not impose a differential rent system or a graded rent system upon them. It is the local authority themselves who have the decision in the matter.
Would the Minister not consider the suggestion in my question regarding the possibility of fixing the rent at a rate of 10 per cent. of the householder's earnings?
It is a matter for the local authority, not for the Minister.
Has the Minister no authority at all?