Nicky McFadden (Fine Gael)

I move amendment No. 16:

In page 6, before section 4, to insert the following new section:

"4.—The Minister shall, within three months of the commencement of this Act, lay before each House of the Oireachtas, a report on how the Rent Supplement Scheme could be improved to—

(a) make it more responsive to beneficiaries needs,

(b) reflect rental market changes.".

Given that we had a detailed debate on this issue yesterday, I will not go into detail except to say that changes should be introduced whereby rent supplement would be paid in advance rather than in arrears. It is wrong that tenants must wait up to six weeks for payment. If they do not get the rent supplement they sometimes end up owing six weeks' rent. This is an issue we need to review.

In the Dublin area the rental supplement is €130 while the cheapest bed-sit costs €150. I ask the Minister to review this matter. We debated the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, yesterday, the uptake of which I understand is very low. Only 1,000 out of 33,000 eligible recipients have been transferred from rent supplement to RAS since 2005. I note it has been administered by the community welfare offices and services of the Health Service Executive on behalf of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. The community welfare offices have expressed concerns regarding the transfer of this scheme to the Department of Social and Family Affairs and are questioning how the move will affect its clients. Perhaps the Minister would comment on that issue.