Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 October 2012
156. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Social Protection if she will amend the legislation to allow community welfare officers to have more leniency and to be able to make decisions on a discretion basis towards larger families on rent supplement, as current legislation is restricted to two adults with three children. [44988/12]
View answerThe purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term 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. The overall 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 currently approximately 90,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided €436 million for 2012.
Rent supplements are subject to a limit on the amount of rent that an applicant for rent supplement may incur. Maximum rent limits are set out for certain family categories in regulations. Families with more than three children are not covered by these regulations. Such families are advised to contact the Department’s officer dealing with their rent supplement claim who will assist the family and determine the appropriate accommodation and rent limit for their circumstances.
