Subject to certain conditions, the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on behalf of my Department by the Health Service Executive, 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 and who do not have accommodation available from any other source. Rent supplement is a short-term income maintenance support and is not intended to address a person's long-term accommodation needs.
Article 9(2)(d) of SI 382 of 1995 provides that a rent supplement shall not be payable in circumstances where a person has vacated accommodation provided by a housing authority, unless the Health Service Executive is satisfied that he or she had good cause for doing so. Article 31 of SI 382 of 1995 provides that the Health Service Executive may award a supplement, including a rent supplement, in any case where it appears to the executive that the circumstances of the case so warrant.
In making a decision regarding a rent supplement claim, the executive considers all the facts and supporting documentation presented to it, and every case is decided on the basis of its own individual circumstances. Neither I nor my Department has any function regarding decisions on individual claims.
Where a person claims good cause for leaving local authority accommodation, the factors considered by the executive in making its determination include the stated reason for leaving the accommodation, validated evidence to support the stated reason and the availability of an alternative housing solution, including alternative local authority accommodation.
Where a person is not satisfied with the decision of the executive regarding a claim for rent supplement, that decision may be appealed to the designated appeals officer in the executive. Where the person is not satisfied with the decision of the HSE appeals officer, the decision may be further appealed to the independent social welfare appeals office.