Members of the Assembly's Social Development Committee have criticised the Department's Minister, Mr Maurice Morrow of the DUP, over alleged plans to increase Housing Executive rents.
Describing the proposed annual increase of 2 per cent above the increase in the gross domestic product as "an affront to the already marginalised", the committee's Ulster Unionist chairman, Mr Fred Cobain, said committee members were unanimous in their determination to fight the Minister "tooth and nail" over his proposals.
He was joined by the committee's deputy chairwoman, Ms Michelle Gildernew of Sinn Fein, who said the proposed rent rise would result in a total increase of 4.5 per cent on an annual basis, which was unacceptable to Housing Executive tenants.
"I am disappointed that Mr Morrow has taken this decision without first consulting with the Social Development Committee in the Assembly.
"When the Minister does finally come to the committee next Thursday, I am sure there will be cross-party opposition to his proposals.
"Sinn Fein will not support the least well-off in society being penalised in this way," she added.
But a DUP member of the committee, Mr Sammy Wilson, said he was "completely puzzled" by Mr Cobain's figures. The committee was currently in possession only of a consultation paper rather than any concrete proposals regarding rent increases by the Minister.
In a statement last night Mr Morrow said the figure quoted by Mr Cobain was only a national planning assumption, and he would discuss any rises applying specifically to Northern Ireland with the Social Development committee next week.
"Decent affordable housing is and must remain a fundamental right for everyone. Good housing can provide the spark for the regeneration of our most deprived areas," he added.
The 2 per cent increase plus GDP was a UK, rather than a Northern Ireland-specific, figure, and Mr Morrow, just like his predecessor, Mr Nigel Dodds, had in fact given a commitment to curtail rent increases, Mr Wilson said.
Committee members also expressed "deep alarm" at the Housing Executive having to pay 42 per cent of its total budget for home-loan charges, and described the proposed increase in winter fuel payments to the elderly as totally inadequate.
The Health Minister, Ms Bairbre de Brun, has pledged to cut Northern Ireland waiting lists, which are the longest in the UK, according to figures released yesterday.
Nearly 50,000 people were waiting for in-patient treatment in the North at the end of June, an increase of more than 4,000 on last year. Ms de Brun announced a new framework of action to cut the lists to "manageable" levels and said she would lobby her Executive colleagues for extra resources for the health service.
There was no plenary session of the Northern Assembly yesterday