asked the Minister for the Environment if he is aware that grave and serious hardship is being imposed on many young couples, single parent families and single and elderly persons in the Dún Laoghaire and south county Dublin area who are completely unable to provide either private purchase accommodation or private rented accommodation from their own financial resources because of the extremely high cost of new houses and rented accommodation in this area; and if he will accordingly instruct the local authorities that their refusal to accept housing applications from applicants in these areas where their income exceeds £5,500 per annum should be rescinded.
Written Answers. - County Dublin Housing.
36.
In accordance with section 60 of the Housing Act, 1966, all local authority dwellings must be let in accordance with statutory schemes of letting priorities adopted by the local authority concerned and approved by me. The approved letting priorities schemes of Dún Laoghaire Corporation and Dublin County Council do not contain any clauses which would exclude from consideration applicants of any particular level of income. No income limit has been specified by my Department for eligibility for rehousing by a local authority.
I understand from queries which I have had made of Dún Laoghaire Corporation and of Dublin County Council that they have not refused to consider applications for local authority housing from applicants purely on the grounds that the applicant's income exceeds £5,500 per annum. Accordingly the question of my issuing an instruction to these two housing authorities on the lines suggested by the Deputy does not arise.