The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. Neither I nor the Department has any function in relation to decisions on individual claims. The purpose of the scheme is to provide short-term income support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.
To qualify for rent supplement a person must satisfy a number of conditions including that they must be a bona fide tenant, be habitually resident in the State, have a housing need and satisfy a means test. Also, the Health Service Executive must be satisfied that the accommodation is suited to the persons needs and the rent payable is within the prescribed limits.
The timescale for determining applications for rent supplement is dependant, among other things, on the availability of the required information, such as details of the applicant's income, bank statements, information from landlords etc. In addition, some aspects of the application are inevitably time consuming and delays can occur where investigations such as home visits or third party evidence are required. Delays can also arise if the applicant is slow to respond to requests for additional information.
Under existing arrangements, an appeal against a decision on entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance or rent supplement is made in the first instance to a designated appeals officer in the HSE. A person may, if they so wish, make a further appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office, if they are dissatisfied with the decision of the HSE appeals officer.
The Executive does not maintain records that would readily provide the information requested by the deputy. However, in response to the deputy's query, the Department has surveyed the community welfare service concerning the average processing times for rent supplement decisions and appeals. Figures supplied to the Department indicate that, for the eastern region, it takes between two and twelve weeks to process a rent supplement claim, with the average duration being between three and four weeks. The HSE's Appeals Office in the eastern region has stated that it takes an average of ten weeks to decide on a rent supplement appeal.
The social welfare appeals office does not distinguish between supplementary welfare allowance appeals and other supplements such as rent supplement. The average time taken to process an appeal to the social welfare appeals office is estimated to be 8 weeks approximately.
The provision of a prompt service is a major objective of the Executive. However, this has to be achieved in a manner that is consistent with the demands of natural justice and the need to ensure that every case is fully investigated. While certain cases may take more time to process than others, overall, I am satisfied that the Executive makes every effort to decide rent supplement claims in an efficient, effective and timely manner.
