Ms Helen Faughnan:

Rent control is a matter for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. It is examining these and we would welcome any progress on that issue. It is not correct that no new people are coming on to the housing assistance payment scheme, HAP. Out of the 2,140 people who have come on to the scheme, 60% of those, 1,300, are new applicants. The remaining 40% are existing rent supplement recipients transferring over.

A protocol is in place with the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the local authorities on deposits and ensuring the Department of Social Protection will pay a rental deposit to help secure tenancy. HAP is looking at the legislation on rental deposits under the HAP mechanism. At the moment, HAP is new and the Department is working hand in hand with the other agencies involved to ensure the processes are supported. It is correct that the number of rent supplement tenants has fallen with a 15,000 drop in the number of recipients over the past three years. That is partly a reduction in the live register but also the transfer of people on to RAS, rental accommodation scheme, and other social housing options. During the same period, 14,000 people transferred from rent supplement onwards. There is quite a large churn in rent supplement. As I mentioned earlier, over 5,400 people have come on to the rent supplement scheme since the beginning of this year.

Deputy Joan Collins spoke about working hand in hand with the NGOs and having mechanisms in place.

The Peter McVerry Trust talked about the rent supplement initiative. That has been in place since 2012 and is working very well. Around the country our officials are on homeless action teams, HAT. We engage with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, Threshold, Focus Ireland, the Simon Community and all sorts of local organisations. There is very good engagement and a lot of case conferencing. If cases are brought to our attention, we will have a rent deposit ready for those people and pay a rent in advance to try to secure a tenancy in that place.

I have responsibility for six of the Department’s 13 divisions. I was recently in Cork, where we have a homeless unit which is next door to the offices of the Simon Community. They work hand in hand. They were invited to brief the new St. Vincent de Paul volunteers in the Cork area. The community welfare staff briefed them on a Saturday to make sure they were aware of the supports we have in place because they are in touch with some of the most vulnerable people and we want to help them.

Deputy Ryan spoke about housing supply. That is the biggest issue that the NGOs here today and we and many others battle with. There is a lot of work being done by the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the local authorities. I will not go into it now but there are directives from the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government about the cohort of housing stock that has to be prioritised, etc. There is a National Asset Management Agency, NAMA, unit coming on stream in Tallaght and other similar initiatives.

In respect of rent supplement, it was of particular concern to the Department that leading property websites put up no rent supplement filters. We engaged with them and they agreed to take down those filters and accepted this was not in line with best equality legislation. We have a lot of interaction with those types of stakeholders.

In response to the questions about rent supplement not being sufficient, and to Deputy Naughten’s question, a blanket increase in rent supplement limits across the country would give us little or no available extra supply but as I have reiterated in two very clear directives to the staff, they have flexibility - we call it Article 38 - to examine people’s needs on a case by case basis. In some cases, for example, a young vulnerable person, we will pay above the rent supplement limit, particularly if that person is on a reduced jobseeker's payment. Issues arise in the boundary areas between Roscommon and Athlone where there is a higher socio-economic group and accommodation is taken up by students in Athlone. It is the same in north Kildare because of the good manufacturers there, which take up the supply. The staff, whether in Roscommon or Athlone, have discretion to try to support people to secure that accommodation. There is direct contact around the country in all our community welfare service units with non-governmental organisations, NGOs, and Oireachtas Members who deal with these people in their clinics should come to talk to us if they feel the flexibility is not being deployed. There are almost 7,000 staff in the Department, and with the best will in the world, consistency may be an issue. Oireachtas Members should talk to us or to the divisional managers because this is the safety net and we want to make sure it is deployed effectively throughout the country.

In response to Deputy Naughten’s question about anti-social behaviour and rent supplement, up to now if a person worked and paid rent, the agreement was with the landlord. If that person lost their job or was ill and could not pay the rent, we were there to step in to be the safety net for a short period of time. It was never intended as a long-term housing solution. Unfortunately, it has turned out that way for just under 70,000 people that we support. A substantial sum of money, €298 million, has been set aside. It is a demand-led scheme and resources will be made available to meet the needs. The contract is between the landlord and the tenant. The landlords must enforce the tenant obligations. The Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB, was set up with a specific remit in this area to enforce tenants’ obligations and it has powers in that respect. We have powers such that if a local authority or someone else complains to us and the landlord has to suspend or terminate a tenancy because of anti-social behaviour, we will stop the rent supplement payment. The programme for Government commitment in this area is through the housing assistance payment, HAP. Under HAP, the local authority will pay the rent directly to the landlord. If there is an anti-social problem it will be handled using that mechanism.