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. As of the end of October 2014, there are approximately 72,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014.
Rent supplement is subject to a statutory maximum limit on the amount of rent that a recipient may incur and is based on the location of the residence and family composition. The scheme provides assistance with reasonable accommodation costs and does not provide access to all housing in all areas. The Department has a responsibility to ensure that maximum value for money is achieved for both the rent supplement recipient and the taxpayer.
I am concerned that the impact of adjusting limits at a time of constrained supply will yield only a very marginal increase in available supply for rent supplement recipients, with the only certainty that raising limits will increase costs disproportionately for the Exchequer with little or no new housing available to new recipients. Raising rent limits may not be 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, their families and students. I plan to keep this matter under close review.
I can assure the Deputy that officers administering rent supplement throughout the country have considerable experience and make every effort to ensure that accommodation needs are met including through the use of their discretionary statutory powers, as necessary. In light of a particular concentration of the homelessness problem in the Dublin area, the Department has agreed a tenancy sustainment protocol with the Dublin local authorities and voluntary organisations to support families on rent supplement who are at risk of losing their accommodation. Since the launch of this protocol in mid-June 2014, some 180 families have had their rent supplement claims revised by the Department. The Department is currently examining the need for such protocols in other areas.
Increasing housing supply and the reactivation of the construction activity is a critical issue for Government and key to restoring stability to the rental market. In this context, it should be noted that the Government has recently launched its Construction Strategy 2020.
As part of Budget 2015, Government also announced significant capital investment of over €2.2 billion for social housing for the next three years. In 2015, over €800 million will be invested in a range of housing programmes representing the first major investment in housing since 2009. My colleague, Alan Kelly T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, is also due to publish a Social Housing Strategy shortly. This will propose a range of approaches and reforms that are innovative and challenging and will provide a basis for an improved and sustainable approach to the provision of social housing supports in Ireland.
