Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 September 2012
285. Deputy Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government if he will provide a list of local authorities which regard foster care allowance as reckonable income when calculating rent; the length of time this has been the practice and the number of foster families affected; if he will immediately instruct them to cease this practice; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40277/12]
View answer286. Deputy Sandra McLellan asked the Minister for the Environment; Community and Local Government if he will provide a list of all local authorities who take foster care allowance into consideration as means when calculating rent; if it is acceptable to do so when foster care allowance is paid to the foster carers for the benefit of the foster child and is not an income or an income support; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [40322/12]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 285 and 286 together.
My Department does not collect the information sought. The making and amending of rent schemes is the responsibility of housing authorities as an integral part of the housing management functions and there are many different rent schemes in operation across housing authorities. The decisions on whether or not to disregard either a proportion of income or particular sources of income for the purposes of calculating rents are matters for each individual housing authority to consider in accordance with their own rent scheme.
Section 31 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, when commenced, will replace existing enactments in relation to differential rent schemes. Regulations and guidelines for housing authorities to give effect to section 31 are currently in preparation in my Department. When these are made section 31 will be commenced and authorities will have one year in which to put in place a differential rent scheme under the new provisions. While it is not the intention to introduce a national standardised differential rent scheme, the regulations to be made will more clearly set out the matters that may be included in a local rents scheme, including the level, type and sources of household income that may be assessed for rent purposes. It is my intention that foster care allowance will be disregarded for rent assessment purposes under the new regulations.
