Ms Helen Faughnan:

The Chairman has introduced my two colleagues, both of whom are from the supplementary welfare allowance policy unit at our headquarters in Sligo. They have responsibility for rent supplement as well. I have made my presentation and some statistical information we sent yesterday available to the committee. I hope members will find it useful. I will take the committee through some of the key points I want to make.

The State is a key player in providing support to people in the rented market and is providing funding of almost €450 million this year in respect of one third of the rented sector. This is under the rent supplement, housing assistance payment and rental accommodation schemes. The State is supporting a total of almost 100,000 individuals and families under these three schemes. There are approximately 54,000 rent supplement recipients and over 7,000 claims have been awarded in the first six months of this year. A total of €267 million has been made available for the rent supplement scheme this year. The scheme plays a vital role in maintaining people in their homes during these difficult times of reduced supply and increasing rents. As the committee knows, the Department recently carried out a review of the rent limits in line with the commitments in the programme for a partnership Government. The limits were introduced in all areas of the country - both urban and rural - from 1 July.

The new rent limits are generally benchmarked at the 35th percentile of agreed rents, as collated by the Residential Tenancies Board. This represents a realignment of the maximum rent limits with agreed rents. This will provide increased stability and transparency for tenants and landlords and will cost up to €12 million this year under the rent supplement scheme. In Dublin, the rent limits are increasing by some 30%, while in Cork, Limerick and Galway, increases of over 20% are being provided. Increased rent limits will now apply to the commuter belt surrounding County Dublin where supply pressures are particularly acute. One of the primary findings of this review that is in line with well-documented research is that individual counties are experiencing different levels of price inflation.

The revised limits immediately apply to all new rent supplement tenancies. Existing recipients are currently signed up to tenancy agreements and the revised limits will apply on a review of their claim. A review can be undertaken for a number of reasons, including at the request of a customer, where an existing lease is expiring or where ongoing entitlement is being examined. The Department is concerned that there are people who have entered into informal top-up payment arrangements with their landlords and may have difficulty in ensuring that there is sufficient money remaining to provide for basic living expenses.

We are, therefore, advising people in these circumstances to contact the Department for a review of their rent supplement claim so that their position can be regularised. In recognition of the continued pressure that exists in the rental market, discretion and flexibility will continue to be available under the rent supplement scheme. Prior to the introduction of the increased limits, the Department operated an individual case management approach where each tenant's circumstances were considered on a case-by-case basis. Under this approach, rent payments were made in excess of the maximum limits as appropriate.

Staff in the community welfare service have a statutory discretionary power to award or to increase a supplement for rental purposes, for example, when dealing with applicants who are at risk of losing their tenancy or in danger of homelessness. This flexible and responsive approach is a key instrument in assisting families to keep their homes. To date, it has supported over 8,800 households on rent supplement through increased rental payments. The revised rent limits will regularise this policy approach, and the numbers seeking payments in excess of the new limits should reduce substantially. Also, and importantly, rent reviews can now only be sought by landlords after a two-year period, which provides increased certainty.

In addition, the Department, in conjunction with Threshold, continues to operate a special protocol as part of the tenancy protection service in Dublin, Cork city and recently extended to Galway city and the commuter counties of Kildare, Meath and Wicklow where the level of housing supply is particularly acute. The primary objective of this service is to provide advice and support to householders experiencing housing problems and at risk of homelessness, including advocating on their behalf with landlords and the Residential Tenancies Board. For example, over 4,000 of the 8,000 calls to Threshold were resolved without referral to the Department for financial support. The programme for a partnership Government has identified expanding this protocol nationwide. The Department of Social Protection will work with the department of housing and Threshold to carry out this extension.

The strategic policy direction of the Department is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of being a short-term financial income support scheme mainly for people who are unemployed. To achieve this, the Government has two initiatives to deal with long reliance on rent supplement. They are the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, and the new housing assistance payment, HAP. Under HAP, responsibility for the provision of rental assistance to those with a long-term housing need will transfer back to local authorities. Furthermore, HAP will contribute to the provision of a more integrated and streamlined system of social housing supports, as it has been designed to allow any households that find full-time employment to remain in the scheme. HAP is currently operational in 19 of the 31 local authority areas. A HAP homeless project is operating in the four Dublin local authority areas. It is expected that HAP will be available in nine more local authorities by the end of this year and in the remaining three Dublin local authorities early in 2017. That will the complete implementation of HAP. To date, there are almost 11,000 households in receipt of HAP.

I want to mention another important element of supports provided by the Department towards rent deposits under the exceptional needs payments scheme. We also consider payment of deposits under the HAP scheme on a case by case basis. To the end of June, in excess of 1,170 rent deposits were made at a cost of over €732,000.

I assure members that the Department's community welfare service staff responsible for administering rent supplement, have considerable experience in engaging with people facing challenging and financially difficult times. These staff work closely with local authorities and local homeless action teams, including non-governmental organisations, to provide the necessary financial supports to facilitate people to access and maintain their existing accommodation.

The ongoing reduction of supply in the rental market, and increasing rents, continue to present serious challenges and stress to many families. The measures I have outlined in my presentation will provide increased stability for rent supplement households. That concludes my presentation and I will be happy to discuss any issues raised.