Ms Helen Faughnan:

I thank the committee for the opportunity to appear before it today on the matter of the Department's rent supplement scheme. I propose to update the committee members on rent supplement matters in general and to address the specific issues raised by the committee specifically on rent limits, rent deposits and the processing times.

The Department's primary role in this area is the provision of income support through the rent supplement scheme for which the Government has provided a sum of over €403 million for 2013. The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term income support to eligible tenants living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.

There are currently approximately 86,000 rent supplement recipients, of which more than 54,000 have now been in payment for more than 18 months, representing over 60% of the total. The Department provides on an ongoing basis relevant details of these long-term claimants to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, with a view to transferring them to the rental accommodation scheme, known as RAS.

Budget 2012 provided for a number of changes to the rent supplement scheme including a review of the maximum rent limits which were set after an analysis of the most up-to-date market data available. During 2012, approximately 48,700 rent supplement claims were awarded at the revised limits. As the Department currently funds almost 30% of the private rented sector, it is essential that State support for rents is continually kept under review, that it reflects current market conditions and that it does not distort the market in a way that could increase rent prices for others such as low-income workers. The Department acknowledges that the rental market has changed since the limits were revised. It is currently carrying out a review of the current maximum rent limits. It is expected that these new limits will be introduced in June of this year.

The review process includes an analysis of the private rental market using publicly available data sources as well as consultation with other bodies and organisations involved in the area of housing support.

The emphasis in a rent review is on ensuring maximum value for money for tenants and the taxpayer is achieved, while at the same time ensuring people in receipt of rent supplement are not priced out of the market for quality private rented accommodation.

Customers' minimum contributions were also increased, effective from 1 January 2012. The adjustment aligns more closely the minimum contribution payable by households under the rent supplement scheme with rents payable under the rental accommodation scheme, RAS.

I shall discuss the issue of rent deposits. An exceptional needs payment may be made under the Department's supplementary welfare allowance scheme to help meet the cost where the applicant is unable to do so out of his or her resources. There is no automatic entitlement to an exceptional needs payment. Each application is determined based on the circumstances of the case, taking account of the nature and extent of the need identified. All recipients of rent supplement do not receive a rent deposit. In 2012 approximately 5,600 rent deposits were paid, totalling approximately €2.7 million. Every effort is made to ensure multiple rent deposits are not paid to the same person. Applicants are advised that the deposit is refundable. Rent deposits are recouped by the Department, but details of this refund category are not currently maintained specifically. The Department is reviewing the approach to rent deposits and the mechanisms in place for recording recouped deposits. The refund of rent deposits may not always be applicable depending on individual circumstances. For example, if the landlord or tenant terminates the tenancy, the tenant can use the returned deposit to secure a new tenancy. There is churning and rent supplement tenants tend to move from one unit of accommodation to another.

On foot of the commitment in the programme for Government to introduce a tenancy deposit protection scheme, the Minister of State responsible for housing and planning, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, asked the Private Residential Tenancies Board to commission research on same. The final report and recommendations were submitted to her last November. The report is detailed and comprehensive and identifies a number of options for delivering on the programme for Government commitment, all of which present particular challenges. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is in the process of critically examining the report with a view to identifying the best way to address the issue of tenancy deposit protection. It intends to provide for the establishment of an appropriate scheme in the context of the consideration by the Oireachtas of the Residential Tenancies (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2012. The Department of Social Protection welcomes the proposed establishment of a deposit protection scheme that will protect the funds of the State and individuals. The current process of issuing rent deposits under the exceptional needs payment scheme will be reviewed in the context of the new scheme.

The Government has two initiatives to deal with long-term reliance on rent supplement. The rental accommodation scheme has been in operation since 2004-05 and the more recent housing policy initiative. Both initiatives give the local authorities specific responsibility for meeting the long-term housing needs of persons in receipt of rent supplement. Officials in the Department of Social Protection work closely with those in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to progress the transfer.

To support local authorities in the collection of rents, the Department of Social Protection introduced, in the Social Welfare Act 2012, an amendment to make it a requirement that local authority tenants who consented to their differential rents being deducted under the household budget facility could not withdraw their consent without the agreement of the local authority. The household budgeting scheme facilitates a person in having a specified amount of his or her social welfare payment deducted by An Post to pay certain utilities such as the gas company, the ESB and local authorities.

I trust that my presentation has been of assistance to the committee. I am happy to answer whatever questions it may have.