Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 September 2014
94. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of rent supplement recipients that have lost their accommodation and hence their supplement and who are now in emergency accommodation provided by local authorities. [35340/14]
View answer102. Deputy Aengus Ó Snodaigh asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of rent allowance recipients in the Dublin city area per postal district in August 2013 and August 2014; and the cost to her Department of rent allowance in the Dublin City Council area for August 2013 and August 2014. [35537/14]
View answer118. Deputy Fergus O'Dowd asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the position in respect of rent allowance caps by location; the reason that there are different caps in different areas; the number of recipients of rent allowance by location; and if she will review the rent allowance system. [35571/14]
View answer121. Deputy Michael P. Kitt asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the current status of the rent limits review; when the review will be finalised; if she will provide the report relating to the review to the House when it has been completed. [35593/14]
View answer126. Deputy Catherine Murphy asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection when it was decided, on a policy level, to issue a 13-week termination notice of the termination of rent supplement payments issued to families that are unable to negotiate their rents downwards; and if she considers this an effective strategy for reducing the spend on rent supplement nationally. [35619/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 94, 102, 118, 121 and 126 together.
The purpose of the rent supplement scheme 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. The overall aim is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are currently approximately 73,800 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014.
Rent supplement is subject to a statutory limit on the amount of rent that an applicant may incur and these limits are generally reviewed every 18 months. The most recent review was completed in June 2013 with revised rent limits introduced on 17 June 2013. Despite pressures on the social protection budget, the last review saw rent limits increase in line with market rents in some areas, including Dublin and Galway, with Dublin limits increasing by a weighted average of 9%. The different rent limits established reflect the differences in the respective rental markets throughout the country. All major urban population centres were tested to ensure that rent supplement applicants can access accommodation whilst seeking employment opportunities.
A new rent limit review has commenced within the Department and will be finalised to feed into the budgetary process. This review involves 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, websites advertising rental properties, relevant Departments and Agencies and non-government organisations such as Threshold, Focus Ireland and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. The review report will be published on the Department’s website when finalised.
The current difficulties in the rental market and the difficulties faced by prospective tenants, including those seeking access to rent supplement, is a shortage of supply of suitable properties in areas of high demand. I would be concerned that raising rent limits is not the solution to the problem as it is likely to add to further rental inflation and impact, not alone on rent supplement recipients, but also on many lower income workers and students.
Where a customer is unable to negotiate rent with their respective landlord to reduce their rent within the prescribed limits the customer may be advised to secure alternative accommodation. Where this has been advised there is a long-standing administrative arrangement for a period of thirteen weeks to be provided to the customer as an appropriate timeframe. As I have previously outlined, there were a number of increases in the maximum limits in the previous review in areas such as Dublin and Galway including the introduction of new increased rent limits for North Kildare, reflecting the higher rental values for these particular areas.
I can assure the Deputies that officers administering rent supplement throughout the country have considerable experience in dealing with customers and make every effort to ensure that their accommodation needs are met. Discretionary powers are available to staff to award a supplement for rental purposes in exceptional cases where it appears that the circumstances of the case so warrant. A notice reminding staff of their statutory discretionary power to award a supplement for rental purposes in exceptional cases, for example, when dealing with applicants who are at risk of losing their tenancy, has recently been circulated.
Statistics are not available on the number of persons who are in emergency accommodation having previously been in receipt of rent supplement. However, in view of the current supply difficulties, the Department has agreed a protocol with the Dublin local authorities and voluntary organisations so that families on rent supplement who are at risk of losing their accommodation can have more timely and appropriate interventions made on their behalf. Since the launch of this initiative in mid June 2014, 118 families have had their rent supplement claims revised by the Department.
Rent Supplement statistics are maintained at county level and are provided in the following tabular statement. Statistics are not maintained on rent supplement recipients and expenditure by postal district or local authority.
Rent Supplement Recipients by County - December 2013 to August 2014 (Statistics in relation to August 2013 are unavailable.)
|
COUNTY |
END DECEMBER 2013 |
END AUGUST 2014 |
|
CARLOW |
1,108 |
1,073 |
|
CAVAN |
455 |
427 |
|
CLARE |
1,547 |
1,368 |
|
CORK |
9,020 |
8,490 |
|
DONEGAL |
2,047 |
1,890 |
|
DUBLIN |
29,541 |
27,601 |
|
GALWAY |
3,983 |
3,649 |
|
KERRY |
1,888 |
1,769 |
|
KILDARE |
4,135 |
3,820 |
|
KILKENNY |
1,210 |
1,170 |
|
LAOIS |
1,085 |
1,018 |
|
LEITRIM |
354 |
331 |
|
LIMERICK |
2,984 |
2,704 |
|
LONGFORD |
507 |
480 |
|
LOUTH |
2,422 |
2,305 |
|
MAYO |
1,900 |
1,690 |
|
MEATH |
1,941 |
1,777 |
|
MONAGHAN |
395 |
371 |
|
OFFALY |
1,124 |
1,077 |
|
ROSCOMMON |
802 |
676 |
|
SLIGO |
542 |
468 |
|
TIPPERARY |
2,094 |
1,994 |
|
WATERFORD |
1,556 |
1,435 |
|
WESTMEATH |
1,588 |
1,533 |
|
WEXFORD |
3,179 |
2,763 |
|
WICKLOW |
2,381 |
2,201 |
|
TOTAL |
79,788 |
74,080 |
