asked the Minister for Social Welfare the total amount spent by each health board on rent allowance under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme for the most recent week for which figures are available; the total number of people receiving these allowances in the same week; the number of people who are receiving this allowance in Galway city; if he will further break the numbers down into those receiving below £10 which can be sanctioned by the community welfare officer and those receiving above this figure; whether he will consider paying this allowance along with weekly social welfare payments at the employment exchanges; if his attention has been drawn to the difficulty many claimants may have in obtaining rent receipts from landlords, possibly due to fear of incurring additional tax liability; if there is any communication of information between the community welfare officers/health boards and the Revenue Commissioners; the methods his Department use to inform those eligible of the existence and means of application for this allowance; and whether he has any plans to publicise this scheme more widely.
Written Answers. - Payment of Supplements by Health Boards.
Statistical information of this type is supplied by all health boards only in respect of the quarter ended 31 March. The data for 1988 are being collected at present but all the returns from the health boards have not been received yet. The amount above which health boards are required to apply to the Department for sanction for the payment of supplements was increased from £5 to £10 with effect from 2 November, 1987. The following tabular statement, compiled from returns furnished by the health boards, sets out the information for the last week in March 1987.
|
Health Board |
Numbers |
Up to £5 |
Over £5 |
Expenditure |
|
£ |
||||
|
Eastern |
3,953 |
360 |
3,593 |
83,964 |
|
Midland |
146 |
30 |
116 |
2,166 |
|
Mid-Western |
306 |
168 |
138 |
2,754 |
|
North Eastern |
315 |
111 |
204 |
4,997 |
|
North Western |
262 |
146 |
116 |
2,560 |
|
South Eastern |
368 |
214 |
154 |
3,846 |
|
Southern |
716 |
220 |
496 |
9,307 |
|
Western |
393 |
210 |
183 |
4,166 |
|
Totals |
6,459 |
1,459 |
5,000 |
113,761 |
The only complete data yet available in respect of the last week of March 1988 are as follows:
|
Health Board |
Numbers |
Up to £10 |
Over £10 |
Expenditure |
|
£ |
||||
|
Mid-Western |
358 |
118 |
240 |
3,352 |
|
North Eastern |
372 |
46 |
326 |
5,189 |
The returns from the Western Health Board do not provide separate figures for Galway City. The information available relates to the Galway Community Care area, which comprises both city and county. In the last week of March, 1988 a total of 263 persons in the Galway Community Care area received such supplements at a cost of £3,860. Of these, 60 received payments of up to £10 and 203 received payments in excess of £10.
Consideration will be given to the possibility of paying these supplements with unemployment benefit/assistance payments at employment exchanges.
Contacts with the health boards indicate that difficulty on the part of applicants in getting rent receipts from landlords is not a significant problem and where instances of this nature have arisen, the community welfare officers have managed to overcome the difficulty.
The question of a landlord's tax liability is a matter for the Revenue Commissioners. Rent supplements, where due, are paid to the tenant, not the landlord, and the community welfare officers/health boards would not, therefore, be in a position to supply information on a landlord's income from their records.
A leaflet produced by the Department gives detailed information on entitlements under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance scheme. It is available from the information offices of the Department in Dublin and around the country and from the Health Boards. Consideration is being given to the publication of an information leaflet specifically about rent and mortgage supplementation.