Rent supplements are available through the supplementary welfare allowance scheme which is administered by the health boards on behalf of my Department. Supplementary welfare allowance is not normally payable to people who are engaged in full-time employment. For these purposes, employment for 30 hours or more per week is regarded as full-time.
Arrangements which have been in place for a number of years allow a person to retain a portion of his or her rent supplement where he or she takes up employment through approved schemes, such as the back to work scheme or community employment. These arrangements are particularly beneficial to people who take up full-time employment, as they would not otherwise be entitled to rent supplement.
Subject to certain conditions, including a weekly household income limit of €317.43, rent supplement may be retained on a tapered basis for up to four years, that is, 75% in year one, 50% in year two, and 25% in years three and four. Back to work allowance and family income supplement, in cases where one or both of these are in payment, are disregarded in the assessment of the €317.43 weekly income limit. PRSI and reasonable travelling expenses are also disregarded in the means test.
In addition to those on approved schemes, anyone who has been unemployed for 12 months or more and who moves from a welfare payment to full-time open market employment may retain rent supplement on the tapered retention basis outlined above.
Participants in the back to work scheme and community employment can opt to be assessed under either standard supplementary welfare allowance rules or the retention arrangements outlined above and will be entitled to receive payment under the more favourable option in their case. Under standard assessment rules rent supplements are calculated to ensure that an eligible person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of basic supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to his or her their family circumstances, less a minimum contribution, currently €13, which each recipient is required to pay from his or her own resources. Up to €50 in respect of additional income from part-time employment is disregarded in the means test thus ensuring that a person is better off as a result of taking up such an opportunity. Any amount of family income supplement in payment is also disregarded.
A new initiative was announced by Government in July of this year whereby local authorities will progressively assume responsibility for meeting long-term housing needs including those of people dependent on rent supplement for 18 months or longer. These new rental accommodation arrangements will see local authorities put solutions in place for people with long-term housing needs, while the existing rent supplement scheme will continue to provide income support for up to 18 months where necessary. The local authority approach will be accommodation-based. People accommodated under these arrangements will make a contribution towards their housing costs on the same basis as people on the existing local authority differential rent scheme.