Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this issue and for acknowledging the importance of the scheme, the amount of money spent on it and the people who benefit from it. It is administered on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive, HSE. It is expected that accommodation occupied by rent supplement tenants should at least meet minimum housing standards. Given the availability of much more rented accommodation now tenants have much more flexibility in moving and finding better accommodation. That should challenge landlords to ensure that they are meeting the relevant standards.

Responsibility for setting and enforcing housing standards rests with the local authorities. Under legislative provisions introduced by the Department in 2006 and 2007, the HSE can decide that a rent supplement may not be payable where it has been notified by a housing authority regarding non-compliance with housing standards. Where a notification of non-compliance with standards is received from a housing authority in respect of an existing tenant, guidelines recommend that a community welfare officer discuss the situation with the tenant and take whatever action he or she decides is necessary in the best interests of the tenant. The objective is to ensure that substandard accommodation does not come within rent supplement.

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. The HSE must be satisfied that accommodation funded under the rent supplement scheme is reasonably suited to the residential and other needs of the claimant. Where the HSE becomes aware of accommodation or blocks of accommodation which appear to be sub-standard, it notifies the local authority and it may advise prospective tenants at those premises that rent supplement will not be paid in respect of those tenancies. Details of rent supplement tenancies are provided to local authorities via the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government on a quarterly basis, and this information sharing assists in enforcing housing standards.

The arrangements are aimed at improving the standards of accommodation which rent supplement tenants occupy and support the local authority in meeting their responsibilities on housing standards. The HSE has indicated that notifications of substandard accommodation received from local authorities have resulted in rent supplement being terminated or the refusal of rent supplement where it was not already in payment.

The Government has approved measures to update minimum standards regulations for rental accommodation. The new regulations took effect from 1 February 2009 and apply in their entirety to all new, first time lettings. There is a four year phasing-in period for existing properties to allow time to comply with some of the more onerous provisions, such as the installation of dedicated sanitary facilities in each rental unit. Successful enforcement of the regulations is critical and this responsibility rests with local authorities. Local authority inspectors inspect rental properties for the purpose of ensuring they comply with the regulations. Where a property does not comply, they engage in a series of sanctions against a landlord, up to and including prosecution in the District Court.

The Department is committed to working with and supporting the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and local authorities in meeting their responsibilities for enforcing housing standards.

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