Léim ar aghaidh chuig an bpríomhábhar
Gnáthamharc

Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 22 Oct 2003

Vol. 573 No. 1

Written Answers. - Social Welfare Benefits.

Olwyn Enright

Ceist:

96 Ms Enright asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the effects the change in the maximum amount of rent allowance have had following the ongoing monitoring by her Department; and if it has had an adverse effect on social welfare recipients in the private rented sector or improved their position in acquiring accommodation as was originally the view put forward by her. [24340/03]

Seán Crowe

Ceist:

120 Mr. Crowe asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if her attention has been drawn to the hardship caused by the cap on rent allowance; and her plans to alter this in the forthcoming budget. [24343/03]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 96 and 120 together.

The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards, provides for the payment of a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of rent to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation needs.

One of the conditions for receipt of rent supplement relates to the amount of rent a person may incur. Each health board sets a limit on the amount of rent that an applicant for rent supplement may incur, taking the household size and other relevant circumstances into account. This is to ensure that the rent is reasonable and that the health board is not subsidising the cost of overly large or overly expensive accommodation.

As the Deputies are aware, I introduced regulations on 22 November 2002 which provided for holding the maximum rent levels until the end of December 2003 at the values that had been set by the health boards at that time. Concern was expressed at the time that the new regulations could have an adverse impact on social welfare recipients' ability to secure accommodation in the private rented sector and could lead to people becoming homeless. In fact, there has been an increase of over 6,000 in the number of recipients since the regulations were introduced. This significant increase of over 11% in the number of rent supplement recipients since last November shows that the anticipated adverse impact did not occur.

I am not aware of any individual being made homeless as a result of the regulations. I am aware of cases where rents were reduced to the prescribed levels and other cases where no increase in rent was sought by the landlord.
The privately owned rent index, as published by the Central Statistics Office, shows that rent levels have been falling consistently since April 2002. In light of all of this evidence, I am satisfied that the action taken has not had an adverse effect on the position of social welfare recipients in securing private rented accommodation.
The legislation governing the payment of rent supplements continues to provide the health boards with scope to deal with exceptional cases. To date, my Department has been notified of some 890 instances where the health board availed of this discretion in dealing with cases involving rents which exceed the prescribed limits. Many of these cases involve people with special housing requirements resulting from medical conditions or difficult social circumstances.
Setting higher maximum rent limits than are justified by the open market would distort the rental market, leading to a general rise in rent levels that would disadvantage people on low incomes. Consideration is currently being given to the issue of maximum rent levels beyond the end of this year when the current regulation expires. In this regard, a decision will be taken in the near future following consideration of the exceptional cases as notified by the health boards, updated information from the Central Statistics Office and submissions which have been sought from the health boards.
Barr
Roinn