The 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. There are approximately 84,000 rent supplement recipients, of which over 53,000 have been in receipt of the payment for over 18 months. The Government has provided over €403 million for the scheme in 2013. In 2012, the Government approved in principle the transfer of responsibility for the provision of rental assistance to persons with a long-term housing need from the Department of Social Protection to housing authorities using a new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).
Officials in my Department are working closely with those in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to assist with the necessary work required to progress HAP in terms of enabling the priority drafting of the required legislation, initiating the business planning process, examining the possibilities for providing for direct deduction from social welfare payments - including an amendment to the household budgeting facility, completing the economic assessment and initiating piloting of HAP. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government has recently commenced a business processing development exercise to determine the business processes required to support the implementation of HAP and ensure its successful roll-out. Officials from the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government are fully engaged in this process.
