Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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Question 4: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of rent allowance; her plans to expand this scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29195/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Rent supplement expenditure increased from €369 million in 2005 to €516 million in 2010. The number of people claiming the allowance increased from almost 60,200 in 2005 to 95,700 as at October 2011, that is, by nearly 60%. There are no plans to expand the scheme by relaxing the eligibility rules, thereby increasing the number of people in receipt of rent supplement. The main strategic emphasis of policy initiatives undertaken by the Department over the last number of years is to return rent supplement to its original incarnation as a short-term income support for people who are renting and have lost their jobs but, in a better labour market, would probably find jobs within a year or so.

Two main initiatives are currently being pursued by the Department to transfer long-term rent supplement recipients to housing solutions supported by local authorities. These are the rental accommodation scheme, popularly known in Dublin as the RAS, and the new housing policy initiative launched in June of this year.

The RAS, which was introduced in 2004, gives local authorities specific responsibility for meeting the longer-term housing needs of people who receive rent supplement for 18 months or more. Local authorities 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, the RAS. In June 2011, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government and the Minister of State with responsibility for housing published a new housing policy framework statement. The object, in terms of reform, is the transfer of the rent supplement scheme to local authorities. One other feature of the rent supplement scheme is that it constitutes a welfare trap in certain cases, acting as a disincentive for people to return to work. A multi-agency steering group involving my Department and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government is considering the implementation of this transfer.

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This will help achieve a key Government commitment of removing barriers to employment, while at the same time returning rent supplement to its original purpose, that of a short-term income support payment for those who are temporarily unemployed.

In line with commitments in the programme for Government, the Department is also working closely with the Private Residential Tenancies Board to ensure that rent supplement tenancies comply with the statutory system of tenancy regulation and safeguards. The Department is also working with the Revenue Commissioners to ensure that landlords are tax-compliant.

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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I agree that the concept of transferring responsibility to the local authorities is to be welcomed, and I agree that the emphasis should be on the RAS, as has been the case in recent years. There are 100,000 people on our housing waiting lists, which means there are almost 100,000 people on rent allowance. The number on the housing list has risen to 56,000 since 2008. The Minister mentioned some schemes announced by the Minister of State with responsibility for housing. However, there is a dilemma with regard to social protection and the pressure to maintain social welfare rates as per the programme for Government, to which the Government re-committed to after 100 days in office. Should the Government not seek to create schemes that would benefit the greatest number of people at a lesser cost to the taxpayer? In this instance, such goals cannot be achieved through a large budget for rent allowance, but could be achieved through utilisation of the social dividend that NAMA owes to the taxpayers of this State. Has there been some co-operation on this between the Minister and the Minister of State with responsibility for housing? Has the Minister sought to advance the prospect of co-opting NAMA in order for the State to capitalise on what was promised initially as a social dividend?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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My colleague Deputy Penrose, the Minister of State with responsibility for housing, has continual contact with NAMA with a view to obtaining this social dividend for citizens and taxpayers, who are paying the cost of NAMA, through the use of properties in the NAMA portfolio which may be suitable for housing. The Minister of State has been active in pursuing this.

One of the reasons the numbers on local authority housing lists have risen is that a person must register with the housing authority in order to receive rent supplement. However, many of those receiving rent supplement are young and single. There is a great deal of work to be done in terms of examining how the system of rent supplement has developed and expanded. Some 95,000 people are currently in receipt of the supplement, amounting to a cost to the State of €500 million per year. My Department is the largest purchaser of housing services from private landlords in the State. As such, I agree that we could obtain better value for money.

Barry Cowen (Laois-Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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That is precisely why this issue should be pursued more vigorously than heretofore. The Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government today produced figures indicating that 19,000 houses are vacant and a further 17,000 are at various stages of construction. That oversupply must be tackled vigorously and immediately in order to seek the dividend which could be demanded of NAMA for the State. Such an approach would afford the Minister the leverage she needs to honour the commitments she and her party have given.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Another priority in terms of saving money is for the Department to secure better deals from landlords in regard to rents. That is best handled by the local authorities, which is why I am anxious to see the rent supplement scheme transferred to them. Community welfare officers, who are experts in this area, joined my Department's staff on 1 October. There is a committee of officials and people with expertise in the area between my Department and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. They are working closely together with a view to effecting the transfer of the scheme to the local authorities and initiating the new system in the new year.