Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 79: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons who benefited from rent supplement for each of the past three years; the annual cost of rent supplement for same; the number of people in receipt of the rent supplement for more than 18 months; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [18886/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the Health Service Executive, HSE, as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. 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. The numbers claiming rent supplement have remained fairly constant in the past three years. At the end of 2005, these were 60,200 rent supplements in payment. At the end of 2006 there were 59,900 and at the end of 2007 there were 59,700. At the end of April 2008 numbers had increased to 62,000.

Expenditure on the rent supplement scheme has increased in the past three years from €368 million in 2005, to €388 million in 2006 and €391 million in 2007. Some €392 million has been provided for the scheme in 2008. The rent scheme has also witnessed an increase in the duration of entitlement with almost 32,000 recipients now getting a supplement for 18 months or more. For this reason, the scheme has to be viewed in the context of overall housing policy, particularly in the case of long-term claimants.

In response to this situation, in July 2004 the Government introduced new rental assistance arrangements which include the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. This gives local authorities specific responsibility for meeting the longer-term housing needs of people receiving rent supplement for 18 months or more, on a phased implementation basis. Housing authorities can meet the housing needs of these individuals through a range of approaches including the traditional range of social housing options, the voluntary housing sector and, in particular, a public private partnership type rental accommodation scheme.

To date just under 6,500 rent supplement cases have been transferred to RAS units. Almost 3,000 of these are in the voluntary and co-operative housing sector and 3,500 are in private rented accommodation. Housing authorities have also transferred more than 6,400 recipients to other social housing options. When the new rental assistance arrangements have been fully implemented it is expected that in excess of 30,000 individuals will have transferred from the rent supplement scheme to the local authorities under the rental accommodation scheme or other social housing schemes.

The Department is working closely with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to ensure that RAS meets its objective of catering for those on long-term rent supplement.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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First, is the Department of Social and Family Affairs moving into providing for long-term housing needs? Is this now becoming a core function of the Department?

Second, the Minister, a little like her predecessor, has waxed lyrical on the benefits of RAS. In the areas where it is working it is quite positive and I recognise it is in its infancy. Despite that, 6,500 persons have transferred onto RAS, yet the numbers taking rent supplement have grown in the same period. The Minister stated that the numbers claiming rent supplement have remained fairly constant in the past three years, but there has still been a sizeable increase — up to 62,000 this year. How does the Government intend to address that?

Despite spending the vast sums that the Minister has mentioned in rent supplement, why does her Department continue to ignore the issue of quality and standards? If there was an example of anything showing a lack of joined-up thinking in Government, it is this. The Minister spoke of rent supplement being part of the overall housing policy. Who in the Government is in charge of the overall housing policy and what level of co-ordination exists? It seems there is little co-ordination. It seems the supplement is paid regardless of the quality or standard of the accommodation and that is quite unacceptable.

Will the rent supplement be used to fill this housing need indefinitely or does the Minister intend to tackle the fact that so many people are on it for more than 18 months? Is RAS the only solution the Minister has in mind?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The rent supplement was always intended to be a short-term scheme.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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It is long-term now.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The fact that it then grew and there were so many people on it for 18 months or more was the reason for developing the RAS. People were becoming dependent on the rent supplement for their housing needs which was never the intention behind it.

The intention is to ensure that these people can be facilitated through the local authorities' various schemes, whether through RAS units or social housing, and that co-ordination is now taking place. Every local authority in the country now has staff designated to deal with this. RAS is still in its infancy and it is more successful in some local authorities than others.

It is not fair to say that the Department of Social and Family Affairs is involved in long-term housing provision. It is not. The idea is to ensure that rather than being ignored by their local authorities on their housing lists, these people would now become a central part of it. The success of RAS to date, even though the numbers overall could be considered to be fairly low, shows its potential.

It is the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the local authorities which are responsible for housing — it is not the responsibility of the Department of Social and Family Affairs — and they can determine whether a rent supplement can be given depending on the conditions of the housing.

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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If the Minister thinks that RAS and social housing will solve all the rent supplement problems, she has much to consider. She has not mentioned the commitment in the programme for Government to examine the reforming of rent supplement. When will that happen? Will it be a priority for her?

In examining that reform — whenever this one of the many programme for Government commitments is met — will she confirm that her Department and other relevant Departments will look at the issues of quality, the lack of responsiveness to market change and the fact, as has been discussed in the Chamber with her predecessor, that when a person's landlord gets the rent supplement there is no check as to whether he or she is paying tax on it? The latter is a valuable source of revenue the Government cannot afford to turn its back on at this time.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Last year the system was reviewed and as a result the rent supplement was increased in 14 local authority areas. It is the intention that it will be reviewed over the next few weeks with a view to it coming into effect on 1 July 2008. That review will be taking place——

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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What about an overall reform review?

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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——between the HSE, the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government, the CSO, the Private Rented Tenancies Board and interested voluntary organisations. It is one of those schemes that needs to be kept constantly under review, particularly to see how it is working in getting people into appropriate housing.

The big difference between the RAS and the rent supplement is that the RAS is available to people who can engage in full-time employment, and that must be one of its key successes. Transferring people from rent supplement, which brings with it a dependency on social welfare, to the RAS would allow people to work as well. Obviously, it is means tested but it would target those on low incomes who up until now would not be able to benefit from employment.