Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 28 October 2004
243 Ms B. Moynihan-Cronin asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to the reports that women in domestic violence situations are being forced to remain in such situations due to cutbacks to the rent supplement; if he intends to reverse these cutbacks; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26428/04]
View answer249 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps he proposes in order to assist the many vulnerable persons who are denied rent allowance for the first six months after lodging an application. [26437/04]
View answer258 Ms Cooper-Flynn asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the criteria applied in determining loss of rent allowance to persons refusing a second offer of local authority housing. [26535/04]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 243, 249 and 258 together.
Rent supplements are paid under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards.
There are no circumstances in which women in domestic violence situations have to remain in such situations due to changes introduced into the rent supplement scheme earlier this year. Equally, there is no question of vulnerable persons being denied rent supplement for the first six months after lodging an application.
All applicants for rent supplement who have been assessed by a local authority as being in need of housing, receive rent supplement immediately regardless of how long they have been renting in the private sector or even if they never rented before. Nobody who needs rent supplement is refused if they have a housing need.
If an applicant for rent supplement has not been assessed by a local authority as being in need of housing, they are not excluded from receiving rent supplement on that account. First, a number of categories of people are exempted from the requirement to be assessed by the local authority, including: elderly people; people with disabilities; people regarded as homeless by a local authority; people leaving institutions such as prisons; and existing bona fide private sector tenants, defined as people who have been renting for six months or more, who have an income maintenance need, for example, because they have just become unemployed.
Second, a person who applies for rent supplement who is not in one of the exempted categories may apply to their local authority for an assessment of their housing need. If the local authority considers that they have a housing need and the local authority cannot immediately meet that housing need, then rent supplement is payable without delay.
The health boards have discretion to award rent supplement in any cases where they feel it is appropriate to do so even if the person in question is not an existing private sector tenant and does not fall into one of the exempted categories. The instructions issued to health boards on implementing the new arrangements earlier this year state that the new arrangements do not restrict the discretion given to them to award a supplement in any case where it appears to the board that the circumstances of the case so warrant.
The principal criteria upon which such a determination might be made include the safety and well-bring of the applicant or a situation where an applicant is being made homeless or forced to use homeless facilities unless rent supplement is paid. Such cases could include people who find themselves caught up in violent domestic situations who have to move accommodation because of fears for their safety or well-being. My Department is not aware of anybody in such circumstances who has been refused rent supplement since the new measures were introduced.
In the past it had been possible for people to refuse a housing offer, or multiple offers, from their local authority in favour of availing indefinitely of rent supplement from the health board for private rented accommodation. Rent supplement is no longer payable to those who refuse two such offers of accommodation from their local authority.
In a related development, a new initiative announced in July 2004 will progressively transfer responsibility to local authorities for meeting long-term housing needs, including those of people dependent on rent supplement for 18 months or longer. These new arrangements will see local authorities put solutions in place for people with long-term housing needs, while the rent supplement scheme will continue to provide short-term income support in appropriate circumstances. These measures are intended to strengthen the capacity of local authorities to deal with actual housing needs in their areas.
A working group was established earlier this year under the Sustaining Progress agreement to enable the social partners to assess the impact of the changes to the rent supplement scheme. The working group, which was chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach, included representatives from ICTU and the community and voluntary pillar, as well as my Department and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government. This group concluded that the new measures were not having any significant adverse impacts, taking account of the continuing appropriate levels of discretion available to community welfare officers in respect of particularly vulnerable people.
As previously stated, I have instructed my Department to conduct a review of a number of adjustments to particular welfare schemes that were introduced last year. That review is currently under way and I expect that it will be concluded soon.
