John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

80. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the steps she has taken to mitigate the shortcomings in the rent supplement section; her views that particularly in County Waterford the revised monthly rental limits are decidedly below the average rents being charged by landlords and that rents in the area are on the increase; her further views that more landlords are refusing to accept tenants who indicate that they will be making an application for rent supplement due to the massive delays in processing these applications; her views that this is resulting in more families finding it impossible to source adequate accommodation within the monthly rental limits and find themselves verging on homelessness as a result; if she will make a commitment to increase the staffing levels in the rent supplement section in Waterford to address the serious backlog which now exists; if she will review the process by which an applicant already in receipt of rent supplement wishes to change address and reapply for assistance, as it would reduce processing times if any supplementary application could be processed on the basis of a reassessment of the new property and not a full reassessment of the person where the applicant may confirm that their circumstances aside from address have not altered; if she will review both the monthly rental limits in the County Waterford area and also the process by which the applications are assessed; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [40164/14]

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

What steps has the Department of Social Protection taken to mitigate the shortcomings within the rent supplement scheme? Will the Minister acknowledge that the revised monthly rental limits, particularly in the Waterford area, are well below the average rents being charged by landlords and that the number of landlords refusing to accept tenants who indicate they will be making an application for rent supplement is increasingly resulting in more families finding it impossible to source adequate accommodation within the monthly rental limits?

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

There are currently 1,400 rent supplement recipients in Waterford, at an approximate cost of €4.2 million this year. Some 326 of those, or almost 25% of these claims, were awarded this year.

I want to assure the Deputy that officers administering rent supplement throughout the country have considerable experience in dealing with customers and will continue to make every effort to ensure that the accommodation needs of customers are met. In Waterford, for example, officials from the Department also meet weekly with the local authority and voluntary service providers under the aegis of the Homeless Action Team which is co-ordinated by Waterford City and County Council. Discretionary powers are available to staff to award a supplement for rental purposes in exceptional cases where it appears that the circumstances of the case so warrant and these powers are used as required.

Minimising the risk of homelessness as an objective has been largely achieved in the south east region with very low levels of rough sleeping recorded over the period 2010-13 and numbers residing long term in emergency hostels have been greatly reduced. Waterford is one of the initial locations for the roll-out of the housing assistance payment, HAP, and the officials are working with the local authority to achieve that. This includes referring all new applications for rent supplement for consideration of HAP entitlement in the first instance. This will lead to a more integrated response to the delivery of housing needs and an improvement in customer service and processing times.

We are determined to meet the scale of the social housing need and we have announced, as part of budget 2015, a very large capital investment of over €2.2 billion for social housing for the next three years. In 2015, over €800 million will be invested in a range of housing programmes, which represents the first major investment in housing since 2009. I want to also assure the Deputy that the situation in Waterford is kept under review by the staff in Waterford.

Additional information not given on the floor of the House

Provision of a prompt service is a major objective for the Department’s staff dealing with applications for all schemes, including rent supplement. When the necessary information required to process an application is provided to the Department, a rent supplement claim will be processed within a short timeframe, approximately five to ten days.

I am acutely aware of the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation, including those in receipt of rent supplement, in the current market. Raising rent limits may not be the solution to the problem as it is likely to add to further rental inflation. I plan to keep the matter under close review.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Minister's answer is completely at odds with the facts as I know them to be in Waterford having spoken to many people, and people who deal with the rent allowance. The Minister will recall that she confirmed to me that there had been significant staff changes in the unit administering the supplementary claims in Waterford. The office had recently relocated - I believe the Minister visited it - from the Health Service Executive premises to a new Intreo centre. The Minister is on record as pledging that applicants would be processed within five to ten working days, therefore, can the Minister offer any explanation for the reason rent allowance applicants in Waterford are now waiting up to three months in some instances? Waterford city and east Waterford currently has approximately 1,280 rent supplement applications administered by the office. The average waiting time for an application to be assessed is between two and three months, which is contrary to what the Minster said in her reply and contrary to what she said some months ago when I put that question to her in Waterford when she opened this new centre. These facts are coming from the people in the Department of Social Protection and those trying to access rent allowance.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

As the Deputy knows, a major newly refurbished centre was opened in Waterford which has proven enormously successful in providing a very high-quality social welfare service because all of the IT platforms have been improved. As the Deputy also knows, there is a general reception desk, without glass barriers, where people can ask for the information they want. People in Waterford are very complimentary about the new-style service.

In terms of the waiting period, the waiting period for rent supplement is five to ten days. If there are specific features of the particular cases the Deputy has identified, it would be helpful if he gave me details of those, but that is the particular standard to which we work. I am happy to say that in Waterford in particular there is very close co-operation among the staff in social welfare, organisations and agencies which take an interest in the problems of people who are homeless, and the local authority.

It will be one of the key areas where we will roll out the housing assistance payment which will be of further assistance.

John Halligan (Waterford, Independent)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Not a week goes by in my advice centre that I do not deal with someone looking for rent allowance. I am the only Deputy operating out of Waterford city so I know what I am speaking about. It is not five to ten days. I do not know where the Minister gets those facts and figures.

The stark reality being presented to many with whom I deal is a damp, dark bedsit with shared toilet facilities because this Government reduced rent allowance over recent years. It is impoverishing very vulnerable people who have no hope of getting a house on the local authority housing list for years and have no choice but to apply for rent allowance. Many of them have children and are coming out of vulnerable situations themselves. Landlords are dramatically increasing rent. The Minister reduced the amount for applicants which leaves all these vulnerable people with nowhere to go.

It is not the case that someone who applies for rent allowance will be five or six days without being housed, which means being put into rented accommodation. Many people in desperate situations are being victimised by landlords providing poor conditions because of the cuts in rent allowance. I contradict what the Minister says about the five day waiting list. I deal with social welfare officers in Waterford every day of the week.

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

Nationally, 73,000 individuals or families receive rent allowance. The Deputy knows how popular it is with families. In Waterford, 325, or almost 25%, of the claims for rent allowance were awarded this year. I do not accept that there is not a significant number of people in Waterford whose housing needs are being addressed. I am aware, and I understand what the Deputy is referring to, that over the period of the crisis from 2008-09 onwards, very many people have been affected because, since the early 2000s, local authorities, in a policy led by the previous Government, decided to move away from building traditional social housing and to emphasise instead the private market providing for what were meant to be short-term tenancies.

The first move is that in next year’s budget, for the first time in over a decade, there is to be a resumption of the building of social housing and I know that families, especially those in their 30s and 40s, want a long-term reliable tenancy. That is what I want them to get and that is what the budget is designed to do.