Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 310: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of persons in receipt of rent support in each of the past five years; the number of houses built to meet their housing needs in the same period; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23254/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The purpose of the scheme is to provide short-term income 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. Neither I nor my Department has any function in relation to decisions on individual claims.

The number benefiting under the scheme has increased from 45,028 in 2001 to 60,176 at the end of 2005 and at 9 June 2006, there were 60,281 in receipt of a payment. The tabular statement shows details of the number of recipients for each of the years 2001 to 2005. Responsibility for housing, including housing statistics, are a matter for my colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government.