Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 10 March 2004
157 Ms Burton asked the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the role her Department plays in the interdepartmental planning group on future rent assistance; the submission, if any, her Department has made to the group; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7800/04]
Amharc ar fhreagraThe supplementary welfare allowance scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards and is subject to certain conditions. A weekly or monthly supplement is paid in respect of rent to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation needs and who do not have accommodation available from any other source.
In recognition of the fact that the rent supplement scheme had, in effect, become a scheme of long-term housing support for many people, the Government set up a working group to rationalise current arrangements for housing support. This was also done to ensure that long-term housing needs are addressed through providing appropriate solutions rather than through the social welfare system.
An interdepartmental planning group was established to draw up detailed proposals for the implementation of revised arrangements. The group was chaired by the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and consisted of representatives from my Department, the Department of Finance and others. Discussions have been under way in the planning group for some time to put in place the most appropriate arrangements to meet the housing needs of people who would otherwise have to rely on a long-term basis on supplementary welfare allowance rent supplements. My Department has played a full part in these discussions and in the research that underpinned them.
Arising from the work of this group, an action plan is now being finalised. The action plan will include criteria for determining which categories of rent supplement recipient will be eligible to have their needs addressed by the housing authorities, an implementation timescale, financing and other matters. While there is full agreement that people with long-term housing needs require a housing response rather than a social welfare payment, and considerable progress has been made in developing practical proposals in that regard, all of the details of how and when the new arrangements will be implemented in practice have not yet been finalised.
Discussions between my Department and the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in that regard are continuing. I expect to seek Government approval for the action plan in the near future.
