Peadar Tóibín
Question:105. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding assistance in respect of a family (details supplied). [12471/14]
View answerThursday, 13 March 2014
Questions (105)
Written answers
The family concerned are currently in receipt of rent supplement of €128.80 per week. The Department understands that they have been given notice to quit their current accommodation as the owner wishes to occupy same. The Department also understands that the local authority in Meath has offered the family alternative accommodation but that it has been declined.
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 currently approximately 80,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014.
Revised rent limits under the rent supplement scheme have been implemented with effect from Monday 17 June 2013 and will be in place until 31 December 2014. The new rent limits were determined following an extensive review of the private rental market based on the most up-to-date data available. The emphasis of the rent limit review is to ensure that maximum value for money for tenants and the taxpayer is achieved whilst at the same time ensuring that people on rent supplement are not priced out of the market for private rented accommodation. It is also essential that State support for rents do not distort the market in way that could increase rent prices for others including low paid workers and students.
Analysis shows that there are properties available in county Meath within the maximum rent limits for rent supplement recipients. Latest figures show that there are approximately 1,950 rent supplement recipients in Meath, indicating that it is possible to secure accommodation within the rent limits.