Vol. 573 No. 1
70 Mr. Ring asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she can stand over rent allowance guidelines which state that a dependent child in third level education cannot be considered when assessing a family's application for rent allowance. [24394/03]
The payment of a rent supplement is provided for under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme administered by the health boards on behalf of my Department. The purpose of a rent supplement is to provide assistance towards the reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source. A rent supplement is an income maintenance support and is not intended to address a person's long-term accommodation needs.
The regulations governing the payment of rent supplement do not prohibit a dependent child in third level education from being considered in the assessment of an application. In determining entitlement to rent supplement, a health board must be satisfied that the applicant has a genuine accommodation need, that the property being rented is suitable to these needs and that a bona fide tenancy exists between the applicant and his or her landlord.
In considering whether a particular property is suitable to the needs of the applicant, account is taken of the composition of the household, particularly the relationship, age and gender breakdown of the people in question. Changes in household composition can affect the supplement payment. If the size of the household increases there may be a need for larger accommodation which, in turn, may lead to an increase in the amount of supplement payable. On the other hand, if the household numbers decrease, the suitability of the accommodation may need to be reviewed. If grown up children move away from the family home to attend university, the remaining resident or residents may be over accommodated. For example, it would not in normal circumstances be appropriate for a person living on their own to receive rent supplement in respect of a three bedroom house. The legislation governing the payment of rent supplement provides health boards with the scope to deal with any exceptional cases that may arise.
The circumstances of the applicant and his or her family are taken into account in determining entitlements in individual cases.
Is the Minister saying that a child who is attending a third level institution either inside or outside the country will not be taken into consideration by the community welfare officer when assessing a family's application for rent allowance? This is unfair and anti-family. As a mother, the Minister will acknowledge this is wrong. Regardless of whether a child is in third level education abroad or at home, their home is their home. They may be away from Monday to Friday during the school term but they will return home at weekends, and if they are out of the country they will return home for Easter, Christmas and the summer or whatever.
Will the Minister agree it is time to change the legislation in order to include for rent supplement students in third level institutions either at home or abroad? As it stands, the legislation is anti-family and wrong. While the Minister did not introduce the legislation, I am asking her to deal with the matter as quickly as possible. She should rush through the Dáil new legislation because the current legislation is wrong, out of date and does not apply in the real world.
The question relates to a particular case that arose and it is imprudent to discuss a particular circumstance in the House. Perhaps this is an opportunity for the Deputy to congratulate himself on achieving getting one of the girls through university. I appreciate what the Deputy is saying.
As I already indicated, rent supplement is a short-term solution. Unfortunately, a number of people are reliant on rent supplement for a considerable length of time. As the Deputy will be aware, people's long-term housing needs are being dealt with. Individual needs are taken into consideration in the case of changing circumstances. The opinion of the board in this instance was that the person was over accommodated but there was a lead-in period of six to eight weeks to facilitate the person to find alternative accommodation, which would be more appropriate to their particular needs. There are circumstances in which children leave home and if they are not permanently resident in the home, the application is not taken into consideration in the normal way. There are exceptional circumstances, however, whereby rent supplement can be made available. The regulation on rent supplement allows a dependent child in third level education to be taken into consideration in the context of the assessment of an application. In this particular case, it was felt by the board that the person was over accommodated.
The Deputy will be aware that there are flexibilities within the rent supplement scheme which is administered by the community welfare officers on my behalf. In considering the particular needs of the applicant the relevant accommodation requirement is also taken into consideration.
I will not refer to the particular case. A Minister cannot stand over legislation whereby a family member in third level education, whether at home or abroad, is not considered for rent supplement. I ask the Minister to correct this bad legislation. In a recent case a senior appeals officer quoted from the 1994 Act. I ask the Minister to look at that Act and bring legislation to the House quickly in order to resolve the issue. Whether we like it or not, a family member attending a third level institution is still part of the family. This legislation is anti-family. Appeals officers are citing the legislation and saying that these people do not qualify three months after doing the leaving certificate.
Supplementary welfare payments are a short-term matter. The regulation applies to people three months after sitting the leaving certificate. These people must be taken into consideration in the payment of rent allowance. In the particular circumstances, it was felt that there was an over-accommodation situation. The CWO, and the superintendent of the CWO who administers the rent supplement, were of the opinion that some flexibility was available, if required. In the particular circumstances, however, they were not in a position to avail of it. I do not see changing the legislation as the way forward because the flexibility is available to the CWO.
