The purpose of the rent supplement 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. 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 88,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement for which the Government has provided a sum of €403 million for 2013. Approximately 48,700 rent supplement claims were awarded during 2012 throughout the country, proving that private landlords are accommodating people under the scheme and that recipients are sourcing accommodation in their localities.
The timescale for determining individual applications for rent supplement is dependent, 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 applications are inevitably time consuming and delays can occur where further investigations or third party evidence is required. Delays can also arise if the applicant is slow to respond to requests for additional information. The Department’s units responsible for rent supplement applications in the Kildare area generally process them within 2 days of receipt where all the necessary information has been supplied.
If the Deputy has a concern in relation to processing times in a particular area or in respect of an individual, she should provide this detail to the Department for follow up. I am satisfied that the Department’s staff dealing with these applications make every effort to ensure rent supplement claims are processed in an efficient manner.
