Ms Niamh O'Donoghue:

This is something that has surfaced on many occasions and the view of the Department always has been that the contract for rent supplement is with the claimant. The rent agreement is between the claimant and the landlord, and it is only at the request of the claimant that we would directly make the payment to the landlord. The real issue is a control issue for us in terms of following people through, getting communication in terms of change of circumstances or change of address, and tracking whether people are in particular locations or not.

Rent supplement was never intended to be a long-term scheme. The intention is that, over time, people who have a long-term housing need will move, in the first instance, into the housing assistance payment, HAP system, which is now up and running, and then, prospectively, into other social housing if that is a better option for them. That is an entirely different contractual arrangement and method of payment, which probably offers better security to the State.