Seanad Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 11 Nov 2003

Vol. 174 No. 11

Tax Compliance.

Mr. Morrissey

I thank the Minister for Social and Family Affairs for taking the time to reply to my Adjournment matter. Although it may be a complex issue I raise this matter for a simple reason. Suppliers of goods and services to the State must supply a tax clearance certificate if the good costs in excess of €6,500. In the case of people who provide professional services to the State, such as archaeologists and geologists, the State retains 20% tax from the amount of money they are due before it pays them. At the end of the year, the supplier can regulate his or her affairs with the State and if there is an overpayment of tax, he or she is given a refund.

In recent years there has been an increase in accommodation in the rented sector and in the amount of money the State is giving to it. Concerns have been raised with me regarding the safeguards and procedures the State has in place to ensure landlords, to whom money is being paid, are fully tax compliant. If they are not fully tax compliant, it means their mortgages are being paid by the State. I would like the Minister to outline for my information and, I am sure, that of many others, the procedures in place and whether they will be tightened up if necessary.

Minister for Social and Family Affairs (Mary Coughlan)

Ar dtús báire ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Seanadóir as ucht ócáid a thabhairt dom cur in iúl don Seanadóir agus don Seanad an méid a bheidh le rá agus an freagra atá agam ar an díospóireacht seo.

I thank the Senator for raising the issue. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme 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 needs. The scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards. Neither I nor my Department has any function in deciding entitlement in individual cases.

The purpose of rent supplements is to assist eligible tenants with reasonable accommodation costs. Rent supplements are paid to tenants living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.

A landlord does not have an entitlement to a rent supplement. The entitlement to a supplement lies with the applicant, that is, the tenant. However, in some instances, a tenant will request that payment of the supplement is issued directly to the landlord. Occasionally, a health board will deem that it is in the best interest of the tenant that payment of a rent supplement issues directly to the landlord, which I am sure the Senator appreciates. This may occur, for example, in cases involving a person who has recovered, or who is recovering, from a drug or alcohol related problem.

The issue of ensuring tax compliance is a matter in the first instance for the Revenue Commissioners. In that regard, health boards are required under the Taxes Consolidation Act to provide details to the Revenue Commissioners concerning landlords whose tenants receive rent supplements. To assist the health boards in discharging this obligation, there are facilities on my Department's computer system for the health boards to record the relevant details. In processing an application from a tenant for a rent supplement, data relating to the landlord and the amount of rent being charged is entered on this system and arrangements are in place for the transfer of the data to the Revenue Commissioners each year, usually on 31 October.

The Seanad adjourned at 7.30 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 12 November 2003.