Pat Breen
Ceist:115 Mr. P. Breen asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the amounts paid in 2000, 2001 and 2002 to date in rent allowances and mortgage allowances; and the guidelines available to rent allowance applicants. [24738/02]
Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.
The supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards provides for the payment of a rent or mortgage interest supplement to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible persons who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.
The supplements are normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent or mortgage interest, has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to their family circumstances, less a minimum contribution which all applicants are requires to pay towards their accommodation costs. Many recipients pay more than the mini mum contribution because applicants are required to contribute any additional assessable means they have over and above the appropriate basic supplementary welfare allowance rate. The standard means test has been eased in recent years so that, if a person or his-her spouse takes up part time employment, he or she can retain the first €50 of their weekly earnings.
Supplementary welfare allowance is not normally payable to people in full time employment. However, arrangements are in place to enable people taking up employment through approved employment schemes such as back to work and community employment to retain a proportion of their rent supplement subject to a weekly gross household income limit of €317.43 and to certain other conditions.
The means test for scheme participants has also been eased in recent years with income from back to work allowance and family income supplement being disregarded in assessing the household income level.
Details of Expenditure on rent and mortgage interest supplements in 2000, 2001 and 2002 to date are set out in the following tabular statement.
|
Year |
Rent |
Mortgage Interest |
|
€ |
€ |
|
|
2000 |
150.74 million |
5.88 million |
|
2001 |
179.43 million |
6.34 million |
|
2002 up to endNovember |
227 million |
7 million |
Question No. 116 answered with Question No. 91.