Ms Rita Tighe:

I am responsible for the rent supplement scheme in Dublin 15, where there are approximately 3,000 live rent claims. We are going above the limits in most cases for anybody who comes to us with a proposed increase from a landlord. On average, we are going approximately €250 above the limits. We query it when it becomes unreasonable and we might make a call to the landlord or the tenants may go to Threshold and ask it to advocate on their behalf. In general, however, we go above the limits under the article 38 provison for anybody who comes to us with a problem because the last thing we want is for them to be homeless. We do not believe the rent limits per seare causing the homeless crisis, rather it is down to the fact that there are so many huge increases.

I am sure people are making top-ups but we do not want people to do that because we are going above the limits in any event, so top-ups are no longer an issue. A lot of people were afraid to come to us because they were paying top-ups and feared that we would not deal with them but that is not the case. We are trying to let people in Dublin 15 know that we will talk to anybody, no matter what their issues, ranging from arrears they have built up to paying top-ups about which they might not want to tell us. We will discuss anything with them to prevent homelessness.