I propose to take Questions Nos. 426 and 427 together.
Under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance – SWA – scheme payment of a weekly or monthly supplement may be made in respect of rent to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. The SWA scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards and neither I nor my Department has any function in deciding entitlement in individual cases.
To qualify for a rent supplement a person in the first instance must satisfy a means test. A health board must also satisfy itself that the applicant has a genuine accommodation need, that the property being rented is suitable to those needs and that a bona fide tenancy exists between the applicant and their landlord.
A health board may consider that a property is not suited to the applicant's needs if the accommodation does not comply with the Housing Regulations (Standards for Rented Housing), 1993. It is not a requirement that the landlord is registered with the relevant local authority. Only a minority of rented property is registered with local authorities and such a requirement would inevitably lead to a restriction in choice of accommodation for applicants for SWA.
Responsibility for enforcing both the standards and registration regulations rests with the local authorities. With regard to value for money, each health board is required to set reasonable maximum rent levels in respect of various classes of persons, single persons, couples, lone parents with one child etc. as a basis for calculating the amount of rent supplement payable. The limits are set using local knowledge as to what constitutes a reasonable rent for private rented accommodation for various household types within and across the health board area.
These maximum rent levels are reviewed regularly by the boards to take account of fluctuations in accommodation costs observed in each area. When accommodation is no longer available within these limits, rent levels are reviewed and revised upwards, at the initiative of the health boards, in the light of their experience in dealing with claims for rent supplement.
Health boards must also satisfy themselves that accommodation is generally available within the limits which they set. If any tenant is experiencing difficulties, the health boards have discretion to award a supplement based on an amount of rent which exceeds the maximum level set where there are extenuating medical or social circumstances having regard to the applicant's means and all the other requirements of the legislation.
