Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 September 2013
138. Deputy Seán Ó Fearghaíl asked the Minister for Social Protection if, having awarded rent allowance to a person, the Department carries out any form of monitoring to ensure that the person conforms to the terms of the scheme with no subletting or co-habiting taking place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40294/13]
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. There are approximately 82,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403 million for 2013. Control is an integral part of the day-to-day administration of the rent supplement scheme. Where a recipient’s circumstances change, they must inform the officer dealing with their rent supplement claim who will determine if the change affects their on-going entitlement to the payment. There are a number of operational controls in place to ensure that payment of rent supplement does not continue to those who no longer have an entitlement such as regular review of claims and warning reports issuing to officers where there is a change in the recipients circumstances which would prompt a review of entitlement. Reviews of claims are generally carried out once to twice yearly, when new information becomes available or more frequently where the risk of overpayment is high. Reviews of rent supplement also involve third party verification by landlords and may include home visits if necessary. In 2012 the Department introduced new powers of enquiry to landlords which allow staff to formally request landlords to provide information in respect of their rent supplement tenants, principally to verify the agreed rent and existence of the tenancy. This measure further improves both the governance and oversight arrangements in place.
It is also open to any landlord to bring to the attention of the Department any instance where they suspect that a tenant is receiving payment in respect of accommodation where they no longer reside. Where the Department becomes aware that a person is not using rent supplement to meet the accommodation costs at the address provided, payment of the supplement is suspended and the matter investigated.
