Sir, – Since 2006, more than €30 million has been paid out by the State to private landlords as deposits for social welfare tenants, none of which has been repaid to the State (Home News, August 10th). Sometimes landlords illegally retain the deposit, and social welfare tenants do not have the resources to pursue them through the courts. Sometimes the social welfare tenant holds on to the deposit, or uses it as deposit for another apartment.
However, for many years organisations working with homeless or low-income people have advocated a State deposit guarantee scheme. No deposit is actually handed over to the landlord but is guaranteed by the State should the landlord be legally entitled to it, due to damage to the property or breach of contract. This scheme works well in some other countries.
If the State had deposited this €30 million into a bank account, the small number of deposits that landlords would be legally entitled to retain could be paid out of the interest which this bank account is accruing. Thus, the State would not lose money it can ill afford to waste, but, where the interest payable on the account exceeds the deposits to be paid out, it would make a profit. – Yours, etc,