Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 11 December 2013
78. Deputy Simon Harris asked the Minister for Social Protection if rent supplement may be paid to a person living in a mobile home in a fixed location; her Department's policy on same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [53185/13]
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 currently over 80,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403 million for 2013.
Social welfare legislation is specific in relation to the type of residence for which a rent supplement may be provided. Statutory Instrument No. 412 of 2007 states that subject to these regulations, a person shall be entitled to a supplement towards the amount of rent payable by him or her in respect of his or her residence. The term "residence" is defined as a "residential premises" meaning "a building or part of a building, used or suitable for use, as a dwelling and any land which the occupier of a building or part of a building used as a dwelling has for his or her own occupation and enjoyment with the said building or part thereof as its garden". It is the Department's view that a mobile home is not a building and as such it is not possible to pay rent supplement in respect of such a structure.
