Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 353: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the income which is disregarded in calculating a person's eligibility for rent supplement, distinguishing the treatment of maintenance payments, part-time earnings, pensions and so on; the provision which has been made for changes in any of these in Estimates 2007. [39683/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the Community Welfare division of the Health Service Executive, a weekly or monthly rent or mortgage interest supplement is available to assist eligible people who are unable to meet their immediate accommodation needs through their own resources.

Under standard supplementary welfare allowance assessment rules, rent supplements are calculated to ensure that an eligible person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to his or her family circumstances, less a minimum contribution of €13 which each recipient is required to pay from his or her own resources. Family income supplement is disregarded in the standard means test. In addition in cases where the applicant has part-time employment, i.e. less than 30 hours per week, up to €60 of weekly earnings is disregarded with half of any additional income between €60 and €90 also disregarded for means assessment purposes.

People who participate in certain employment schemes are also assessed under special rules governing the retention of rent supplement. These rules provide for the retention for one year of 75% of the amount of rent supplement previously in payment, tapering to 50% in the second year and 25% in the third and fourth years. These arrangements are subject to an income limit of €317.43.

Back to work allowance and family income supplement, in cases where one or both of these are in payment, are disregarded in the assessment of the €317.43 weekly income limit. PRSI and reasonable travelling expenses are also disregarded in the means test.

People availing of an employment support scheme are assessed under both standard supplementary welfare allowance rules and under the special retention rules, and will be entitled to receive payment under whichever is the more favourable option for them.

Half of any maintenance payments a lone parent receives can be disregarded as means for the purposes of assessing a person's entitlement to one-parent family payment. The means test for this and certain other social assistance schemes also provides for a disregard of up to €95.23 per week of maintenance payments in instances where applicants have rent or mortgage interest obligations on their family homes.

Given that up to €95.23 per week of maintenance payments has already been disregarded in the means test for the primary scheme payment purposes to allow for housing costs, maintenance income up to this weekly amount is assessable in determining the appropriate level of rent supplement payable. However, depending on the particular family housing cost, any maintenance payment received between €95.24 and €155.24 (i.e. up to €60) is disregarded in full with half of any additional maintenance payments between €155.25 and €185.23 (i.e. up to €15) also disregarded, subject to a maximum disregard of €75 per week.

In the past, in the specific situation where budget increases in rates of payment were granted to old age pensioners at amounts higher than applied to supplementary welfare allowance, a special income disregard was introduced to ensure that the people concerned received the full benefit of their budget increase. The amount of income in excess of the basic supplementary welfare allowance rate that can be disregarded in the means test for rent supplement for people aged 65 or over who are in receipt of a social welfare pension or equivalent payment from another country is now €26 per household.

The 2007 Abridged Estimates made no provision for changes in rent supplement eligibility, entitlements or rates of payment. Any such change in the scheme would be a matter for consideration in the context of the forthcoming Budget.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 354: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the recent changes which have been announced for eligibility for free electricity and free gas allowance; and if further changes have been made in the free schemes in Estimates 2007. [39684/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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I assume the changes to which the Deputy refers are the recently announced increases in the level of the electricity and gas allowances.

In order to cover the 33.8% increase in the cost of natural gas, from 1 October I increased the value of the natural gas allowance to cover increased standing charges and the associated VAT as well as additional kilowatt hours usage. This means that the value of the natural gas allowance to a household has increased from €313.17 to €516 per year.

At present, the electricity allowance covers normal standing charges and up to 1,800 units of electricity. The allowance also covers the VAT applicable to these charges. In the light of the recent increase in electricity charges the allowance will be increased to cover increased standing charges and the units will also increase from 1,800 to 2,400 with effect from January 2007.

Approximately 340,000 pensioner and other households qualify for the electricity or gas allowances through the household benefits package. I am confident that these increases, the cost of which is provided for in the Estimates for 2007, will be of major benefit to these recipients.

In addition to the electricity and gas allowance my Department also pays a fuel allowance for 29 weeks from end-September to mid-April to assist householders on long-term social welfare or Health Service Executive payments with meeting the cost of their additional heating needs during the winter season. In Budget 2006, I provided for an increase in the rate of fuel allowance of €5, from €9 per week to €14 per week and to €17.90 in designated smokeless areas. This matter is being kept under review.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 356: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the maximum rent payment which will be considered for supplement under supplementary welfare in respect of different household sizes in Dublin in 2007; and the index of rents which was used for considering adjusting these limits. [39687/06]

Séamus Brennan (Dublin South, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which is administered on my behalf by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive, provides for the payment of a rent supplement to assist eligible people who are unable to provide for their immediate accommodation needs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source.

Rent supplements are subject to a limit depending on household size, on the amount of rent that an applicant for rent supplement may incur. The objective is to ensure that rent supplement is not paid in respect of overly expensive accommodation.

Notwithstanding these limits, under existing arrangements the Health Service Executive may, in certain circumstances, exceed the rent levels as an exceptional measure, for example:

where there are special housing needs related to exceptional circumstances for example, disabled persons in specially-adapted accommodation or homeless persons,

where the tenant will be in a position to re-assume responsibility for his/her rent within a short period.

where the person concerned is entitled to an income disregard and has sufficient income to meet his or her basic needs after paying rent, taking into account the appropriate rate of rent supplement that is otherwise payable in the case.

This discretionary power ensures that individuals with particular needs can be accommodated within the scheme and specifically protects against homelessness.

In November 2002, when the Central Statistics Office Privately Owned Rent Index first showed evidence of continued reductions in rent levels, regulations were introduced to set the maximum amount of rent in respect of which a rent supplement is payable. These limits remained in place to the end of December 2003. Further Regulations introduced in December 2003 and prescribed the limits to be used between January 2004 and June 2005. The current rent limits, which are set out in S.I. 386 of 2005, cover the period July 2005 to 31 December 2006.

Despite recent increases in rent levels, the Central Statistics Office Privately Owned Rent Index shows that rent levels for October 2006 were in line with those which applied in October 2002.

My Department is currently reviewing levels of rent limits in order to develop proposals regarding what limits should apply from January 2007 onwards. The review is taking account of prevailing rent levels in the private rental sector generally, together with detailed input from the Health Service Executive on the market situation within each of its operational areas.

The review will also include consultation with the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government and the Private Residential Tenancies Board. In addition, a number of the voluntary agencies working in this area have made detailed submissions. This process will ensure that the new rent limits reflect realistic market conditions throughout the country, and that they will continue to enable the different categories of eligible tenant households to secure and retain suitable rented accommodation to meet their respective needs.