The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, SWA, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Neither I nor my Department have any function in relation to decisions on individual claims.
Under standard SWA rules, rent supplements are normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of SWA appropriate to their family circumstances, less a minimum contribution, currently €13, which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. Many recipients pay more than €13 because recipients are also required, subject to income disregards, to contribute any additional assessable means that they have over and above the appropriate basic SWA rate towards their accommodation costs.
The Dublin and mid-Leinster area of the Health Service Executive has advised that the person concerned was paid a proportionate amount of rent supplement for February because she was not in her accommodation unit for the full month. The person in question will receive a rent supplement of €344.20 per month from her next payment date. The details of calculation of her rent supplement will be forwarded separately to the Deputy.