Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 December 2014
51. Deputy Dessie Ellis asked the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection if she will provide the names of the persons or groups who lobbied her Department to cease rent supplement in the Ballymun, Dublin 11 area as she referred to in a Topical Issues debate on 8 May 2014. [47361/14]
View answerThe Government decided in 1997 to approve the redevelopment of Ballymun and a regeneration programme commenced in 1998. The provision of rent supplement in the Ballymun designated area was identified by housing authorities as a risk to the tenure diversity objective of the project which is to achieve a more balanced tenure mix by providing additional private market housing.
In response to the concerns about achieving a tenure balance mix, Section 25 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2007 provided that a payment of rent supplement can be refused in respect of accommodation which is situated in an area notified to the Minister for Social Protection by the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, as being an area of regeneration.
The Department was advised that there was broad consensus on the need for the rent supplement restrictions in Ballymun to protect the significant exchequer investment in the area. Dublin City Council engaged with elected representatives in relation to this matter and there was consultation with Ballymun Regeneration Limited. The payment of rent supplement was also identified as an issue which could undermine the policy of reducing social segregation by the Ballymun Neighbourhood Council, which included representatives from local residents, political representatives and local agencies including Dublin City Council and Ballymun Regeneration Limited.
It should be noted that the measures provided for in Section 25 are not a blanket refusal of rent supplement in areas of regeneration. Specific provision is made to ensure that:
- people already residing in such areas and in receipt of rent supplement may continue to receive payment; and
- people already residing in such areas in private rental accommodation and who may have recourse to rent supplement in the future would not have their entitlement restricted.
The lifting of the condition for rent supplement with respect to the Ballymun regeneration area is a matter for my colleague the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.
