Martin Cullen (Waterford, Fianna Fail)

The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of a rent supplement to assist eligible tenants who are unable to provide for their immediate accommodation needs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.

Under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, landlords are legally obliged to register tenancies with the Private Residential Tenancies Board, PRTB. My Department supports the requirement that all tenancies, including those facilitated by rent supplement, should be registered with the PRTB and is committed to working closely with it in ensuring that all rent supplemented tenancies comply with the statutory system of tenancy regulation and safeguards. To that end, my Department provides details of rent supplement payments to the PRTB to enable it identify tenancies that are not registered and to take any follow-up action necessary.

The PRTB has advised that it has successfully prosecuted one landlord for failure to register tenancies with the board. Rent supplement was paid to one of that landlord's tenants and was not paid directly to the landlord in that case. Rent supplemented tenancies which are liable for registration with the PRTB should be registered. In that regard, I am satisfied that the arrangements I have outlined contribute to ensuring that landlords whose tenants receive rent supplement comply with this statutory obligation.

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