Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 4 July 2012
138 Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons who were in receipt of rent allowance in counties Cavan and Monaghan before changes were made to the scheme; the number of persons in receipt of rent allowance in counties Cavan and Monaghan; the number of persons in counties Cavan and Monaghan affected by the change; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32623/12]
View answerThe purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term income support to eligible tenants 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. The aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are approximately 92,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement for which the Government has provided a sum of €436 million for 2012.
New maximum rent limits came into force on 1 January 2012 and are in place until June 2013. All new rent supplement applications are subject to these limits and as existing claims come up for review, or when an existing lease expires, they will be reassessed using the new limits. The table outlines the total number of recipients of rent supplement in County Cavan and County Monaghan at December 2011 and June 2012.
|
County |
Recipients |
|
|
End December 2011 |
End June 2012 |
|
|
Cavan |
843 |
620 |
|
Monaghan |
488 |
402 |
