Brendan Howlin (Wexford, Labour)
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Question 542: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the way, in relation to the proposed introduction of a requirement for social welfare recipients to produce photo identification when receiving payments, this requirement can be satisfied by persons not in possession of a passport or driving licence; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15424/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Staff in An Post are required to satisfy themselves that they are making payment to the person entitled to receive that payment. This has generally been done through signature verification.

The introduction of photo id is designed to strengthen the identification in order to prevent abuse of the social welfare system. While passports and driving licences are the main documents used by individuals to prove their identity they are by no means the only ones. Among other acceptable documents are National Identity cards, cards issued by An Garda Síochána and employer ID cards. Some 90% of Irish people have a passport and 70% have a driving licence. Non-Irish nationals would be required to have either a passport or National ID card in order to travel.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 543: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the revised rent ceilings which apply to persons in receipt of rent supplement. [15431/09]

Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 553: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the new maximum rent limits applicable to rent supplement applicants by family type area and whether or not they are in an existing tenancy. [15955/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 543 and 553 together.

The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term 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.

In recent years a significant number of people have come to rely on rent supplement for extended periods. There are currently almost 84,000 people in receipt of rent supplement, an increase of 40% since the end of December 2007. Rent supplements are subject to a limit on the amount of rent that an applicant for rent supplement may incur. Rent limits are set at levels that enable different types of eligible households to secure and retain basic suitable rented accommodation, having regard to different rental market conditions that prevail in various parts of the State. The objective is to ensure that rent supplement is not paid in respect of overly expensive accommodation having regard to the size of the household and market conditions.

Setting or retaining maximum rent limits at a higher level than are justified by the open market can have a distorting effect on the rental market, leading to a more general rise in rent levels and in landlord income. This in turn may worsen the affordability of rental accommodation unnecessarily, with particular negative impact for those tenants on lower incomes. Maximum rent limits are prescribed in regulations and are time limited so that they can be adjusted in the light of rent levels generally. The most recent regulations cover the period to 31 December 2009.

The recent Supplementary Budget provided for changes to be made to the rent supplement scheme. One of the measures being introduced is the reduction in the maximum level of rent supplement payable by the State in respect of all new tenancies or on renewals of tenancies. The limits will be reduced by up 6% to 7% on average, ranging up to 10%, depending on the geographical area and household size and by reference to an analysis of rent supplement and the Private Residential Tenancies Board rent data as well as the downward trends in private rents as recently published by the CSO. Trends in the private rent sector indicate that rents have fallen considerably in the past 12 months.

Payments currently being made to existing rent supplement tenants are being reduced by 8% in the expectation that landlords will reduce their rents given the reductions in the market as a whole. While tenants are contractually obliged to pay the rent agreed to in their lease, it is expected that landlords will decrease the rent in recognition of the fact that rents have fallen generally and that there are now a large number of vacant rental properties nationally. It is essential that state support for tenants does not give rise to inflated rental prices and overcharging by landlords. The new maximum rent limits will be prescribed in regulations to be made in the coming weeks and to take effect from 1 June 2009. These regulations will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas/Dáil.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 544: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the rules that will apply to determine eligibility for mortgage interest supplement by a person who loses their job. [15432/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA) provides for a supplement to be paid in respect of mortgage interest to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs. The scheme is administered by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive on behalf of the Department.

The purpose of mortgage interest supplement is to provide short term 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. In general a person may be entitled to a mortgage interest supplement provided that: s/he is habitually resident in the State, the loan agreement was entered into at a time when, in the opinion of the Health Service Executive, the person was in a position to meet the repayments, the residence in respect of which the loan is payable, is not offered for sale; the mortgage interest payable does not exceed such amount as the Health Service Executive considers reasonable to meet his or her residential needs. In exceptional circumstances, a supplement may be awarded where the mortgage interest exceeds such amount as the Executive considers reasonable but such a supplement is payable for a maximum of 12 months only; s/he satisfies a means test.

Mortgage interest supplements are 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 family circumstances less a minimum weekly contribution, currently €18, which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. This minimum contribution is being increased to €24 with effect from 1 June 2009. Many recipients pay more than the minimum contribution because they 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 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. Each application for mortgage interest supplement is determined by a community welfare officer taking account of the relevant legislative provisions and on the basis of the merits of each individual case.

In view of the current economic environment, the Department has commenced a review of the administration of the mortgage interest supplement scheme. The main purpose of the review is to consider how the mortgage interest supplement scheme can best meet its objective of catering for those who require assistance on a short-term basis, where they are unable to meet mortgage interest repayments on their sole place of residence. Legislative and operational issues arising in the existing mortgage interest scheme, including the cap on hours of employment, are also being examined.