Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I thank the Minister for coming to address the issue, the crux of which is the discrepancy in rent allowance and the limits in areas in the southern part of my constituency, which for all means and purposes are in the greater Dublin metropolitan area, compared with the areas just inside the Dublin border, such as Finglas, Swords, Santry etc. I will speak to the merits that the Minister tried to achieve when the new rent limits were published in June, as she sought to provide value for money for the Department of Social Protection, which is very important. She also sought to ensure people in those areas did not get priced out of the market and rent allowances were suitable for the rental market that would be used by families.

The Department used www.daft.ie as an area of information when it surmised the rent limits and I will quote some prices for an average three-bedroom semi-detached house. This example would suit a couple with three children, although it relates to all other categories as well. To rent a three-bedroom semi-detached house in Ashbourne in south Meath costs €1,100, and the cost is the same in Ratoath. In Finglas the cost to rent a similar property is €1,100 and in Swords it would cost €1,200 to rent a similar property. The allowance for families in Finglas and Swords is €950 but if a person tries to rent a house in Ashbourne or Ratoath, the allowance is only €650. Rents in the areas are exactly the same but there is a €300 discrepancy in the supplement provided. I could provide similar examples for two and one bedroom apartments, as well as cases where people rent rooms in houses. In every category there is a major discrepancy between what is available ten miles down the road in Finglas versus what is available in Ashbourne.

I understand the Department considered Meath as a county in its entirety and I appreciate that it is much cheaper to rent in Athboy, Enfield or Kells than it is in Ashbourne, Dunboyne, Dunshaughlin and Ratoath. It is not the fault of people living in those towns that the metropolitan area of Dublin city has expanded not only just into the counties of Meath but also into Kildare, Louth and Wicklow. Rent supplements should be reflective of that. Although we have been beating the drum regarding rents in Meath for approximately a year, it dismays me further that rent limits in Kildare and Wicklow have been changed to reflect the fact they are part of the greater Dublin metropolitan area, and rents are higher.

I ask the Minister to reconsider taking Meath as a county in its entirety and recognise that the south corridor of the county is in the greater Dublin metropolitan area. The rents should be reflected as being equal to those commanded in the Dublin area, so rent supplement allowances should take that into account.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. There are currently approximately 81,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement for which the Government has provided €403 million in 2013. The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term 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 overall aim is to provide short-term assistance and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer.

Revised rent limits under the rent supplement scheme have come into force with effect from Monday, 17 June 2013, and will be in place until 31 December 2014. The new rent limits have been determined following an extensive review of the private rental market, based on the most up-to-date data available. The Department currently funds approximately 30% of the private rented sector so it is essential that the rent limits are kept under review. The new rent limits have been set using the 35th percentile, ensuring that sufficient housing is available for recipients of the scheme.

There have been increases in the maximum rent limits in Dublin and there have been some reductions across a number of counties, including some categories in County Meath, reflecting the conditions in the rental markets in those counties.

Special provisions are made in exceptional circumstances, including, for example, people with disabilities in specially adapted accommodation or homeless persons. The overall cost of the rent limit review and the changes we have made for 2013 is an extra €7 million, which can be met from within the existing provision for the scheme.

There are currently 1,981 rent supplement recipients in County Meath, of whom almost 200 are in the Ashbourne and Ratoath areas. In arriving at the appropriate rent limits for County Meath, rent levels in the major population centres in the county were tested. Analysis shows that there are properties available within the maximum rent limits for rent supplement recipients in County Meath. However, the number of rental properties available in the specific locations referred to by the Deputy is significantly lower than the numbers available in the rest of the county, and this has an impact on the cost of the accommodation units available for rent. A search conducted on a leading property website shows that there are a total of 15 one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom properties available for rent in the Ratoath and Ashbourne areas. It must be stressed, however, that the purpose of the rent limit review was to ensure the availability of accommodation for rent supplement tenancies and not to provide rent supplement tenants with access to all housing in all areas. The Department will continue to monitor rent levels throughout the country.

The Department's strategic policy direction is to restore rent supplement to its original purpose of a short-term income support - for instance, for people who have lost their jobs. It is a temporary measure. In July 2013 the Government approved the introduction of the housing assistance payment, HAP. Under HAP, responsibility for recipients of rent supplement with a long-term housing need will transfer from the Department of Social Protection to local authorities. Officials of the Department of Social Protection are working with officials in the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government, who are properly leading the project. It is the job of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the local authorities to provide appropriate accommodation. They are developing proposals to give effect to the transfer to local authorities as set out by the Government. The Department is advised that following the enactment of the relevant legislation, the HAP test phase will be carried out in the selected local authorities during 2014.

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I wish to concentrate on two points made by the Minister in her response. Rent supplement in areas of Meath was reduced in June this year to reflect the lower rents in those areas, namely Athboy, Enfield, Trim and Kells. However, rent supplement limits in respect of the more significant rents in the southern corridor of the county were not increased. The Minister seems to think that the reason rents in those areas are so high is the lack of rental accommodation available, but that is not true; they are high because of the large mortgages involved. When they were sold, the houses were considered to be in the greater Dublin area. It does not make sense that the Minister reviewed the figures in June of this year without being cognisant of the fact that the rents commanded for two-bedroom and three-bedroom houses in Ashbourne, Ratoath, Dunshaughlin and Dunboyne, which for all effective purposes are in the greater Dublin area, are exactly the same as those in Finglas, Santry, Clondalkin and Artane. I agree with the Minister that rent supplement is a short-term measure and that a person should not expect to have it for the rest of his or her life. The effect of the change will be that people who are rooted in their communities will have to move out because of a temporary glitch in their financial circumstances.

The Minister indicated how few people are on rent supplement in the southern corridor of County Meath. Would she please consider a further review in light of the fact that it would make a small monetary difference to the Department but would have a significant impact on communities that have developed in areas where people have decided to rear their families for the past ten to 15 years? It would allow people to remain in these areas during temporary glitches in their financial circumstances until they get back on their feet.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I wish to repeat what I actually said - namely, that a search conducted on a leading property website shows that there are a total of 15 one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom properties available for rent in the Ratoath and Ashbourne areas. It must be stressed that part of the issue is the lack of supply. Deputy Doherty suggested that there was a far greater supply. If that is the case, it is not available through the sources of information checked by the Department.

The second and more important issue is that housing is correctly the responsibility of the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. I am most anxious to see a fundamental reform in the form of the transfer of rent supplement to local authorities. That is in train through the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government. People who end up on rent supplement in the long term are heavily restricted in their ability to go back to work or set up a business because, in effect, if they start work again on a full-time basis or if they set up a business, the rent supplement may be withdrawn. The time has come to reform how rent supplement operates in terms of getting people back to work and into activity. It was designed as a temporary measure and I am glad the Deputy has acknowledged that. It is also time for local authorities to properly adopt their responsibilities, including the possibilities that exist for renting houses over the medium term through the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. Local authorities have a significant role to play.

I am most sympathetic to families who find themselves in a situation in which there is very little accommodation available in the area in which they want to live, and what accommodation exists is prohibitively expensive. The Department is spending more than €400 million on rent allowance for more than 81,000 families. It is a very significant and large part of our budget. The Deputy is graciously suggesting that the budget should be increased. Perhaps she would take up the issue with her colleague, the Minister for Finance.