Mary Coughlan (Donegal South West, Fianna Fail)

Ar dtús báire ba mhaith liom mo bhuíochas a ghabháil leis an Seanadóir as ucht ócáid a thabhairt dom cur in iúl don Seanadóir agus don Seanad an méid a bheidh le rá agus an freagra atá agam ar an díospóireacht seo.

I thank the Senator for raising the issue. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme provides for the payment of a weekly or monthly supplement in respect of rent to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. The scheme is administered on behalf of my Department by the health boards. Neither I nor my Department has any function in deciding entitlement in individual cases.

The purpose of rent supplements is to assist eligible tenants with reasonable accommodation costs. Rent supplements are paid to tenants living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.

A landlord does not have an entitlement to a rent supplement. The entitlement to a supplement lies with the applicant, that is, the tenant. However, in some instances, a tenant will request that payment of the supplement is issued directly to the landlord. Occasionally, a health board will deem that it is in the best interest of the tenant that payment of a rent supplement issues directly to the landlord, which I am sure the Senator appreciates. This may occur, for example, in cases involving a person who has recovered, or who is recovering, from a drug or alcohol related problem.