Ms Helen Faughnan:

I thank the Deputy. I will address the supply issue. The increase in the rent supplement and the HAP limits will give us a small increase in supply. We estimate approximately 300 tenancies around the county, but the most important objective of increasing the rent limits was to secure the position of the existing 54,000 tenants in receipt of rent supplement and the nearly 11,000 households in receipt of HAP in their private rented accommodation. That will achieve that objective.

We believe the rule that landlords cannot increase the rent for a two year period will make a difference. The Departments of Social Protection and housing, planning and local government will be keeping this position under review to see how the rent limits affect our tenants. We will be definitely carrying out a review in the next 12 months.

As I said to Deputy O'Dea, it is difficult to deal with tenants paying a top up payment to landlords mainly because it can be paid under the counter and it is difficult to be aware of it. In terms of the evidence the Department would need, we would need confirmation from the landlord that this is the exact rent that the tenant is paying. We would need confirmation from the landlord and the tenant to that effect because the Department has a responsibility under audit for taxpayers' money. In many instances, this is a substantial sum of money.

It could be up to €1,400 per month that we are paying to a household and then to a landlord, so we have to ensure that this is the correct amount that is payable to the landlord. We cannot, in effect, turn a blind eye.

The relationship the landlord has with the Revenue Commissioners is a matter for them. We return data on all of our rent supplement tenancies to the Revenue Commissioners to assist them with their end-of-year audits. We also supply data to the Private Residential Tenancies Board to ensure that there is compliance by landlords with the rules and regulations of that board.

As regards Wicklow and the discretionary payments by community welfare service staff, up to June this year 56 exceptional needs payments have been made in that area for rent deposits at a cost of more than €48,000. When people come to the officers and have a need, they are being met.

In terms of ensuring consistency, I have responsibility for six of the Department's divisions. I and my colleague, who has responsibility for the other seven divisions, meet our divisional managers every month. This is one of the topics that is discussed. In addition, my colleagues in the social welfare policy unit have a network of staff throughout the country whom they engage with to ensure that as various issues arise, we are trying to be consistent in the approach. The evidence of the volume and numbers of rent deposits, for example, on the uplift payments of 8,800 households is that the discretion is being used.

When community welfare staff moved into the Department back in 2011, they were concerned that we were going to restrict or hamper that discretion in some way. However, the Department absolutely values that discretion because it gives us a flexible approach to meeting any kind of needs that arise in the public domain. If members of the committee are aware of cases where they are unhappy with the outcome, they should please flag them to the Department and we will definitely examine those.

As regards letting agents, our Department raised this issue a couple of years ago with the Department of Justice and Equality, and we pushed for the legislation in this area. I was delighted it came into being. We also engaged with key letting agents to stop them displaying the no rent supplement signs they had on their advertisements. Naturally, there are going to be ways around that but the fact is we have more than 66,000 landlords between rent supplement and the housing assistance payment, HAP. If one looks at the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, also, about 100,000 properties in the private market are in State-funded schemes. Landlords are engaging therefore and we have had in excess of 7,000 new claimants this year, about 40% of which are new tenants coming into the scheme. Therefore, much of the private rented market is supporting the schemes.

Some of the financial incentives put in place during the previous budget will help in this regard, including the 100% mortgage relief if somebody is supporting a rent supplement or HAP tenant for three years. The new housing action plan that the Minister will publish in the next couple of weeks will address the main issue of supply.

Substandard accommodation is of concern. We have heard people say, "Isn't it better that they've a roof over their head, as opposed to having the correct standards?" Landlords have a legal obligation to comply with minimum standards and if anybody notifies our Department about substandard accommodation, we will engage with the tenant in the first instance to ensure they are not made homeless and also to try to work with them if they need to seek alternative accommodation.

We supply quarterly updates of all rent supplement tenancies to the Department with responsibility for housing, planning and local government, which in turn are provided to local authority areas. It is up to each individual local authority to decide its own enforcement strategy for inspection arrangements. Under HAP legislation, all HAP accommodation units must either have been inspected 12 months prior to the date of commencement of HAP or to be arranged for inspection eight months post the date of coming into HAP.

I understand the Department with responsibility for housing and planning is working with local authorities, particularly new ones, as they are starting to come into HAP to look at the area of resources. Finance has been provided to local authorities to support them in the roll-out of HAP, and that is part of the engagement with local authorities. However, the enforcement strategy is a matter for the Department with responsibility for housing and planning and local authorities in the first instance.

I think I have covered all the various questions.