Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)

Exemptions will apply where a housing authority designates that a person is homeless, has been identified as having a housing need, is a tenant of a voluntary housing body, is aged over 65 or is in receipt of a disability type payment. Rent supplement will continue to provide support where housing authorities are not in a position to respond within a reasonable timeframe and where the person is at risk of experiencing homelessness or hardship.

The second change being made to the rent supplement is an increase in the minimum contribution individuals and families make towards their rent. This is being increased to €24, which will align the rent supplement more closely with the minimum rents local authority tenants must pay which, for example, in Dublin averages €24 a week. One of the reported impediments to the fluid transfer of rent supplement claimants to the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, is the significant difference between the contribution required of the tenant under the rent supplement scheme and the contribution they are required to pay through the differential rent scheme. The increase in the minimum contribution will also apply to recipients of mortgage interest supplement.

The third rent supplement change is a reduction in the maximum rent supplement payable by the State in respect of all new tenancies or on renewals of tenancies. The limits will be reduced by 6% to 7% on average, ranging up to 10%, depending on the geographical area and household size and by reference to the Private Residential Tenancies Board and other sources. Trends in the private rented sector indicate that rents have fallen considerably in the past 12 months. This is evident from surveys and data available from the Private Residential Tenancies Board and the Daft property website. It is vital that taxpayers' money is not paying landlords inflated rental prices. This change will help to ensure this is not the case in respect of new rent supplement tenancies. However, with almost €500 million being spent by the State on the rent supplement, we need to make sure that landlords of existing tenants are also not charging too much. To this end, rent supplements for all existing tenancies will be reduced by 8%.

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