Vol. 430 No. 6
58 Mr. Deasy asked the Minister for Social Welfare if he will instruct the health boards, through the discretion of the community welfare officers, to assist people on unemployment assistance, who are in arrears with differential rent.
The responsibility for making and amending rent schemes for local authority dwellings was devolved to local authorities in August, 1986 as part of a programme for devolving a wider range of functions to local authorities. Guidelines issued by the Minister for the Environment at that time required the local authorities to ensure that differential rent schemes adopted by them were based on certain broad principles. One of these is that rent payable should be related to income and a smaller proportion of income should be required from low income households. A further requirement was that provision should be made for lower rents in exceptional cases where payment of the normal rent would give rise to hardship.
These guidelines are designed to ensure that tenants on very low incomes do not suffer hardship, by allowing the local authority to fix the rent payable to match a tenant's circumstances.
In view of the discretion of the local authorities in this regard, my Department has asked health boards to advise tenants, who seek assistance with rent arrears, to consult the housing department of their local authority for advice on how to deal with the matter.
I recently launched a new household budgeting scheme for social welfare customers on a trial basis in the Dublin area. Legislation has already been put in place to allow for voluntary deductions from social welfare payments. This new payment option will help social welfare clients to put aside as set amount towards regular bills such as rent so that the prospect of falling into arrears will be reduced. It will be available, initially, to all persons in receipt of unemployment payments at six Dublin local offices who are paid by postdraft. The organisations that have agreed to participate in the deduction scheme include two local authorities in the Dublin area. It is hoped that, once the initial phase works satisfactorily, it will be extended on a gradual basis to all Dublin local offices. Discussions will then commence with other local authorities for its extension throughout the country.
