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Rent Supplement Scheme Administration

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 26 June 2014

Thursday, 26 June 2014

Questions (96)

Terence Flanagan

Question:

96. Deputy Terence Flanagan asked the Minister for Social Protection her plans to deal with the problems surrounding rent supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27802/14]

View answer

Written answers

The Government has provided over €344 million for the rent supplement scheme in 2014, the purpose of which is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources. There are currently approximately 76,000 rent supplement recipients, of which over 50,000 have been in payment for more than 18 months. All prospective tenants, including those seeking to access rent supplement, particularly in urban areas, are now finding it increasingly difficult to secure appropriate accommodation due to the reduced availability of rental properties.

In view of the current supply difficulties being experienced in the Dublin region, the Dublin Region Homeless Executive in conjunction with the Dublin local authorities and voluntary organisations have agreed a protocol with the Department so that families at risk of losing existing private rented accommodation can have more timely and appropriate interventions made on their behalf. It is intended that this arrangement will be reviewed in the third quarter of the year.

While there are no plans to extend this arrangement to other local authority areas at this time, officers administering rent supplement throughout the country have considerable experience in dealing with customers and make every effort to ensure that the accommodation needs of families are met. Staff in the Department’s Community Welfare Service have discretionary powers to award a supplement for rental purposes in exceptional cases where it appears that the circumstances of the case so warrant, for example, when dealing with applicants who are homeless or who are at risk of losing their tenancy. Such cases are examined on a case by case basis having regard to the situation presented.

A review of the maximum rent limits has commenced within the Department and will feed into the budgetary process. This review will involve a comprehensive analysis of information from a range of sources including rental tenancies registered with the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB), the Central Statistics Office rental indices and websites advertising rental properties. The Department will also be seeking the views from a number of stakeholders in this area including the local staff administering the scheme, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, the Private Residential Tenancies Board and non-Government organisations such as Threshold, Focus Ireland, the Simon Community and Society of St Vincent de Paul.

Officials in the Department are continuing to engage with those in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government in progressing the transfer of customers with long term housing needs on the rent supplement scheme from this Department to the local authorities under the new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

Questions Nos. 97 and 98 withdrawn.
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