Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Ceann Comhairle's office for allowing me the opportunity to raise this issue, which I have raised previously by way of parliamentary question and on the Adjournment but it has not been resolved as of yet. This relates to a young woman who arrived in this country some years ago, with her husband, on foot of a work permit. Unfortunately, over the years her circumstances have changed dramatically for the worse whereby she now finds herself, after a very acrimonious separation procedure, separated, alone and homeless.

Again and again, the response I receive to queries regarding rent support is that she previously made an application which was refused by the HSE but she did not appeal. What are the chances of her appeal being successful? The Acting Chairman, Deputy Wall, will be familiar with the HSE appeals process relating to supplementary allowances. I am quite sure that the Minister of State, Deputy Carey, is also familiar with the procedure. I am very familiar with it, from my days in the former health board and I have yet to find a person who was successful in his or her appeal. I have never met even one such person. It is said that up to 20% of appeals are successful but unfortunately I am still waiting to meet the first person whose appeal was successful.

Ironically, a parliamentary question is regarded by the Department of Social and Family Affairs and by the HSE, in such circumstances, as equal to an appeal. A Dáil question triggers an appeal and the case is automatically examined. One way or another, the person concerned has had growing rent arrears for the past six months and nothing has been paid. The only help she has received was from the local branch of the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which is adamant that this is a most pressing and urgent case that requires assistance.

The other excuse that has been used to refuse rent supplement is that the local authority has not ratified her need for rehousing. Why has it not done so? The reason given is that she does not have stamp four status. What a load of codswallop. I have never heard anything like it in my life. The person is homeless. She has two children who are attending local schools, is being supported by voluntary organisations and was previously in receipt of rent support from the HSE at a different address. When she moved to her current address, the community welfare officer in that area obviously had a different view of the case. While I do not want to create problems for individual officers outside this House I wish to make it quite clear that it is not acceptable that individuals make decisions which are particularly punitive and impact in the way that this decision has impacted on the woman in question, as of now.

I can anticipate the Minister of State's reply and could write the script for him. Indeed, he knows I could write the script for him, before he ever reads it. As a practising politician himself, Deputy Carey will understand the frustration of Members of the House in situations such as this. I ask him to reach down through the system and find out the individual or the blockage that is causing the problem and resolve it. This issue is not going to go away and I have every intention of raising it again and, if necessary, to raise a complaint about the way it has been handled by the individual officer concerned. I will not accept it. There is further information available which I do not wish to put on the record of the House at this particular time, but I will do so in the future if I have to. I wish to make that quite clear. I will leave it to the Minister of State to use his good judgment, courage and initiative to take this problem by the scruff of the neck and resolve it.

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Social and Family Affairs, Deputy Martin Cullen.

The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on the Minister's behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. 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. Eligibility is in general confined to those who are in receipt of a social welfare or HSE payment. There are currently over 61,000 tenants benefiting from assistance under the rent supplement scheme. In order to qualify for a rent supplement a person must be a bona fide tenant; satisfy the Health Service Executive that he or she has a housing need which he or she cannot meet from his or her own resources; apply to the local housing authority for an assessment of housing needs if requested to do so by the Health Service Executive; be habitually resident in the State; and satisfy the general conditions of entitlement to supplementary welfare allowance.

Where a person is referred to a housing authority by the HSE, the housing authority is asked to determine if the person has a housing need and to make a recommendation accordingly. When the housing authority has completed the assessment for rent supplement purposes, it notifies the local community welfare officer of the outcome as soon as possible.

The Health Service Executive has advised that rent supplement was paid for the period December 2004 to November 2005 in respect of the household of which the person concerned was a member. Following separation from her husband, the Health Service Executive issued an exceptional needs payment of €847 in August 2006 to the person concerned to assist with the payment of rent arrears. This payment was issued pending verification of a number of issues that would have a bearing on her rent supplement entitlement.

The executive has advised that the person concerned first submitted an application for rent supplement in her own right in respect of her previous residence in November 2006. The person concerned was advised in writing on 14 December 2006 of the executive's decision to refuse payment of rent supplement on the grounds that the local housing authority considered that she did not have a housing need in accordance with section 9 of the Housing Act 1988.

The executive has further advised that on 28 February 2008, it exercised its discretion and issued an exceptional needs payment of €5,052 directly to the landlord of the previous address of the person concerned in respect of the months from April 2007 to October 2007. The executive has advised that the payment was issued in respect of arrears of rent due and was issued without prejudice to the status of the rent supplement entitlement of the person concerned.

The executive has advised that it has not received a formal application for rent supplement from the person concerned in respect of her current residence. It has further advised that it has not received an appeal from the person concerned against the decision not to award a rent supplement in respect of the previous residence.

It is open to the person concerned to appeal any decision made by a community welfare officer in respect of her rent supplement entitlement. The person concerned should make a formal application for rent supplement in respect of her current residence so that a decision on her entitlement can be formally determined.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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She has done that already.

Pat Carey (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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As one practising politician speaking to another, I understand the Deputy's frustration with the system. I will undertake to discuss the matter with the Minister.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister of State for that undertaking, which I greatly appreciate.