Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)

The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to eligible people 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. Currently more than 96,400 tenants benefit from rent supplement payments, an increase of 62% since the end of 2007. More than 44,500 tenants have been in receipt of payments for 18 months or more.

Rent supplement is calculated to ensure that an eligible person has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to his or her family circumstances after the payment of rent, less a minimum weekly contribution of €24 which each recipient is required to pay from his or her own resources. Many recipients pay more than €24 a week towards their accommodation costs because they are also required to contribute a portion of any additional assessable means that they may have over and above the appropriate basic supplementary welfare allowance rate.

The existing rent supplement assessment provides for a gradual withdrawal of payment as hours of employment or earnings increase. Those availing of part-time employment or training opportunities can continue to receive rent supplement subject to satisfying the standard means assessment rules. Where a person has additional income in excess of the standard weekly rate of supplementary welfare allowance, the first €75 of such additional income together with 25% of any additional income above €75 is disregarded for means assessment purposes. This ensures that those returning to work or participating in training schemes are better off as a result of taking up such an opportunity.

Rent supplement is not payable where a person or his or her spouse or partner is in full-time employment, that is, 30 hours or more per week. However, a person on rent supplement who is accepted as eligible for accommodation under the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, may return to full-time work, subject to a means test, without losing entitlement to the rent supplement payment. The use of 30 hours as the part-time work limit for the rent supplement is designed to be as advantageous as possible to individuals returning to the employment market without including those in full-time employment, thus reflecting the scheme's original purpose of a short-term income support payment.

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