asked the Minister for Local Government if there has been any Government statement to the effect that rents of local authority houses would be frozen for three years; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Local Authority House Rents.
9.
There has been no Government statement that rents of local authority houses would be frozen for three years. The new national differential rent scheme, which came into effect on 1st July, 1973, does however provide that increases in maximum rents to cover increased costs of maintenance repairs, insurance, and so on may be made at three year intervals.
Would the Minister not agree that it would be a very good thing to freeze local authority rents at this stage in view of the massive increases which most local authority tenants are paying as a result of increases in gas and electricity bills because most of those houses are centrally heated?
There has been no massive increase in rents of local authority houses since this Government got into power.
That is not so.
(Interruptions.)
The Minister will not get away with that one.
That is not the supplementary I asked the Minister. The Minister purposely avoided it.
The Chair has no control over that.
Would the Minister not agree that an indirect increase has resulted on the outgoings by the tenants as a result of the massive increases in ESB and gas bills?
The Deputy is repeating the same question.
I have answered the question I was asked.