Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour) | Oireachtas source

Subsection (3H) proposed to be inserted into section 198 of the 2005 Social Welfare Act provides for the circumstances in which a rent supplement recipient who is a member of a household now deemed qualified for social housing support will cease to have an entitlement to rent supplement.

Subsection (3H)(a) states that a member of a household already in receipt of social housing support will cease to have an entitlement to rent supplement.

Subsection (3H)(b) provides that a member of a household who qualifies for social housing support but has deliberately done something or failed to do something that has resulted in the offer of HAP not being taken up, will cease to have an entitlement to rent supplement. Subsection (3H)(c) states that a member of a household who has refused two reasonable offers of social housing will become ineligible for social housing support by virtue of the operation of section 20(5B) of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, as inserted by section 46(2)(f) of this Bill, and will cease to have an entitlement to rent supplement.

Subsection (3) of the proposed new section 50 of the Bill amends section 290A of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 relating to the household budget facility operated by An Post on behalf of the Department of Social Protection. It provides housing authority tenants with the facility to deduct rent directly from their weekly social welfare payments. Currently, some 34,800 housing authority tenants use household budgeting to pay their rent. In the short term the household budget facility will support housing authorities in the collection of rents from social welfare recipients during the early roll out of HAP. The Department of Social Protection has committed to developing a direct deduction facility in respect of social rents and it would be intended that a deduction system developed for rent and rent arrears would operate in a somewhat similar basis to that operated by the Office of the Revenue Commissioners and the Department of Social Protection for the deduction of the property tax.

Engagement between both Departments and the Local Government Management Agency is ongoing regarding the necessary systems and supports in this development. The amendments to section 290A of the 2005 Social Welfare Consolidation Act will ensure that the household budget facility will be available to HAP beneficiaries for the payment of their rent contributions to the housing authority.

Amendments Nos. 31, 32 and 49 are technical consequential amendments to the substantive amendment No. 48. They essentially provide for a single definition of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 for the purposes of Part 5 of the Bill rather than defining the 2005 Act separately in individual sections of that Part. I hope that is somewhat clear.