Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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Question 193: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the position regarding a person (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42981/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the Health Service Executive (HSE), as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA). The purpose of the rent supplement 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.

Rent supplement is normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of SWA appropriate to their family circumstances less a minimum contribution, currently €13, which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. Many recipients pay more than €13 because recipients are also required, subject to income disregards, to contribute any additional assessable means that they have over and above the appropriate basic SWA rate towards their accommodation costs.

The Executive has advised that it has no record of an application for rent supplement from the person concerned. The Executive has further advised that she should contact the community welfare services directly in order to make an application for or discuss any entitlements she may have to rent supplement.