The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of rent or mortgage interest supplements to assist eligible people who are unable to meet their housing costs from their own resources and do not have accommodation available to them from another source.
Supplements are payable subject to a means test. They are calculated to ensure that, after payment of rent or mortgage interest, an eligible person has income equal to the rate of basic supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to his or her family circumstances, less a minimum contribution. The minimum contribution is €13 per week, which each recipient is required to pay from his or her own resources. There is a statutory upper limit on the level of rent an applicant may incur and still qualify for a rent supplement. The limits take the household size and the area into account.
Details of these statutory maximum rent levels appropriate to the different family sizes in Dublin and adjacent county areas are set out in the following tabular statement. There have been no special rent supplement guidelines issued by my Department to community welfare staff in the specific Dublin districts identified by the Deputy.
Rent limits applicable in Dublin 1 January 2004 to 30 June 2005
Class of person
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(Former) Eastern Regional Health Authority Areas*
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Single person in shared accommodation
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€93.00 per week
|
Couple in shared accommodation
|
€93.00 per week
|
Single person
|
€115.00 per week
|
Couple with no children
|
€178.00 per week
|
Couple with 1 child or one-parent family with 1 child
|
€953.00 per month
|
Couple with 2 children or one-parent family with 2 children
|
€1,200 per month
|
Couple with 3 children or one-parent family with 3 children
|
€1,200 per month
|
*Now subsumed into Health Service Executive.