Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 16 January 2013
537. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Social Protection if her Department advises landlords of property where rent supplement is being paid, of their obligations to register with the Private Residential Tenancies Board; if the Department monitors this situation to ensure this requirement is complied with; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [1801/13]
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. Currently, there are approximately 88,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided €403 million for 2013.
Under the legislative provisions governing rent supplement, the Department’s relationship is with the tenant. The Department does not engage directly with landlords to advise them of their legal obligations to register with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB).
Registration with the PRTB is not a condition for payment of rent supplement. Landlords are legally obliged to register tenancies with the PRTB within one month from the start date of the tenancy or at a later date on payment of an increased fee. For this reason, it is not practicable for the Department to insist that a tenancy be registered with the PRTB before payment of rent supplement can be made. There are also instances where a rent supplement tenancy need not be registered with the PRTB, for example, in the case of renting a room in a house or where a property is owner-occupied.
The Department works closely with the PRTB to help ensure that rent supplement tenancies comply with the statutory system of tenancy regulation and safeguards. It advises the PRTB of all new rent supplement tenancies to assist them in implementing tenancy regulations and cooperates in any initiatives taken by the PRTB to ensure compliance with the provisions of the Residential Tenancies Act.
