Dan Boyle (Cork South Central, Green Party)
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Question 65: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs his views on recent findings of the Comptroller and Auditor General in relation to rent supplement overpayments and the need to develop methods to identify the extent of fraudulent or unwarranted recourse to rent supplements. [22998/06]

Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 74: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if his attention has been drawn to concerns expressed by the Comptroller and Auditor General regarding the rapid rise in the cost of rent supplement; his views on the replacement of the rent supplement with a new housing benefit scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22981/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 65 and 74 together.

The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive. While my Department has responsibility for devising an overall control strategy for the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, the development, implementation and co-ordination of control measures is the responsibility of the Health Service Executive.

All Community Welfare Officers and Superintendent Community Welfare Officers are involved in control of SWA payments on a daily basis, making control work an integral part of service delivery. Control work commences when a person makes an application and is maintained during the life of the claim by way of reviews of entitlement, random checks and cross checks of claims to ensure that the client continues to be entitled to the payment. In addition, targeted control work is also carried out by the Health Service Executive.

The report of the Comptroller and Auditor General acknowledges that a significant amount of control work is undertaken and that overpayments of rent supplement are being detected. The Comptroller and Auditor General is however critical of the fact that it is not clear how effective the control work is or if the control activity is targeted in the areas of greatest risk. I accept those points.

In this regard my Department together with the Community Welfare Service of the HSE is in the process of completing a fraud and error survey on rent supplement. My Department also intends undertaking a control risk assessment for the SWA scheme including rent supplement. This will provide an opportunity to identify those aspects of the scheme where stricter levels of control might be required. The comments of the C&AG have been made known to the Executive and my Department will be ensuring that controls remains a priority in ensuring that the scheme meets it correct target group.

As Deputies are aware the Government decided that income support and maintenance schemes administered by the Community Welfare Service division of the Health Service Executive should be transferred to my Department. Work has commenced in implementing this decision and I believe the move will provide a further opportunity to address many of the points raised in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report including the issues of control and overall administration.

I am aware of the increases in rent supplement recipients and expenditure as identified in the Comptroller and Auditor General's report. During the period 2000 to 2005, recipient numbers rose from 42,700 to just over 60,000 with expenditure rising from EUR151m to EUR369m. Approximately one third of the overall increase in spending on rent supplements can be explained by increases in the number of recipients, while the remaining two-thirds is attributed to increases in the average rent supplement payment. The increase in the average rent supplement payment is itself attributable to a number of factors, including family size, location and rent level.

The rent supplement scheme was not designed to provide for an individual's long-term accommodation needs. However, in recent years, a significant number of people have come to rely on rent supplements for extended periods, including people on local authority housing waiting lists. In response to this situation, the Government has introduced new rental assistance arrangements giving local authorities specific responsibility for meeting the longer-term housing needs of people receiving rent supplement for 18 months or more, on a phased implementation basis.

When fully operational, local authorities will meet the housing needs of these individuals through a range of approaches including the traditional range of social housing options, the voluntary housing sector and, in particular, a new public/private partnership type rental accommodation scheme. This approach provides a better outcome for the tenants in question and it will also provide better value for money for the taxpayer.

I do not propose to replace the rent supplement scheme with a new housing benefit scheme and the Government is not considering any such proposal. Our priority is to provide housing for those who need it, not to provide an income supplement in lieu of housing. The reform of the rent supplement scheme, the development of the local authority rental accommodation scheme and the very considerable investment in a wide range of social and affordable housing options taken together represent, in my view, a better use of resources than a housing benefit scheme.