Under the terms of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, payment of a weekly or monthly supplement may be made in respect of rent to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation needs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. There are currently 59,367 rent supplements in payment. Expenditure this year is expected to be over €330 million, an increase of approximately €76 million, or 30%, on the €254 million spent in 2002.