Rent supplement continues its vital role in housing families and individuals for which the Government has provided €132.4 million for 2019.
Rent supplement recipients at year end and expenditure for 2018 is provided in the following tabular statement.
The strategic goal of returning rent supplement to its original purpose, that of a short-term income support, has been primarily facilitated by the introduction of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). The “Rebuilding Ireland - Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness (July 2016), reiterated in the “Housing First National Implementation Plan 2018-2021” (September 2018), is to provide 87,000 flexible housing supports through the HAP and Rental Accommodation Scheme between 2016 and 2021.
I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.
Tabular Statement:
Rent Supplement: Recipient Numbers & Expenditure 2018
Year
|
Recipients
|
Cost €000
|
2018
|
24,303
|
175,024*
|
* Provisional Year End Figure