Joanna Tuffy (Dublin Mid West, Labour)
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Question 148: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the instructions given by her or her officials to community welfare officers in respect of refusing mortgage interest supplement in the circumstances in which the applicant had overstated their income. [34885/08]

Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 170: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the changes she will make to the qualifying criteria for private mortgage interest supplement. [34860/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 148 and 170 together.

The supplementary welfare allowance scheme provides for a weekly or monthly supplement to be paid in respect of mortgage interest. The purpose of the mortgage interest supplement is to provide short term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence. The supplement assists with the interest portion of the mortgage repayments only. The scheme is administered by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive on behalf of the Department.

One of the statutory conditions for receipt of mortgage interest supplement is that, in the opinion of the HSE, the person must have been in a position, at the time the loan agreement was entered into, to meet the repayments under that agreement (Article 10(1)(b)(i) of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 2007). Accordingly, in determining entitlement to mortgage interest supplement, a community welfare officer may examine the original loan application, supporting documentation and records of repayments in order to assess the capacity of the person to make a long-term commitment to repayment of the loan in question. It is a matter for the community welfare officer to a make a decision on entitlement based on all of the facts of the case. There is a right of appeal against the decision of the community welfare officer to a Health Service Executive Appeals Officer and thereafter to the Chief Appeals Officer of the Department.

The supplement is normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of mortgage interest, has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance, appropriate to their family circumstances, less a minimum contribution which recipients are required to pay from their own resources.

The existing mortgage interest supplement assessment provides for a gradual withdrawal of payment as hours of employment or earnings increase. In recent years improvements have been made to the means test to encourage eligible people to engage in employment without losing their entire mortgage interest supplement.

Those availing of part-time employment and/or training opportunities can continue to receive mortgage interest supplement subject to their satisfying the standard means assessment rules. Since June 2007, where a person has additional income in excess of the standard weekly rate of supplementary welfare allowance, the first €75 of such additional income together with 25% of any additional income above €75 is disregarded for means assessment purposes. This ensures that those returning to work or participating in training schemes are better off as a result of taking up such an opportunity.

Mortgage interest supplement recipients are required to make a minimum contribution towards the cost of their accommodation costs. When last set in 2004, the contribution represented approximately 10% of the minimum social welfare weekly payment rate. While basic social welfare rates of payment have risen by nearly €70 per week since then, no upward adjustment has been made to the minimum contribution. As part of Budget 2009 measures, I announced my intention to increase the minimum contribution from €13 to €18 with effect from 1 January 2009. This contribution which represents 8.8% of the basic social welfare weekly payment is significantly less than the minimum rent paid by many local authority tenants.

There are currently 6,600 people in receipt of mortgage interest supplement, a 60% increase on the numbers receiving the supplement at the end of December 2007.

The mortgage interest supplement schemes provide an adequate short-term "safety net" within the overall social welfare system to ensure that people do not suffer hardship due to loss of employment. I do not consider that any further changes in eligibility criteria are required at this time. However the scheme will be kept under review to ensure that it meets the objective of catering for those who require assistance on a short-term basis.