Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 420: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the penalties applying where a landlord declares a certain rent for the purposes of a rent supplement application but seeks a top-up from their tenant. [18063/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme, which includes rent supplement, is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The purpose of rent supplement is to provide short-term income support to eligible tenants 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 calculated to ensure that the person, after payment of rent, has an income equal to the basic supplementary welfare allowance rate, less a specified weekly minimum contribution of €18 which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. The minimum contribution will be increased to €24 with effect from 1 June 2009.

Those who have income in addition to the basic supplementary welfare allowance rate may be required to contribute more than the minimum contribution but only after significant income disregards have been allowed in respect of that additional income i.e. disregard 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 who have no additional income only pay €18 while those who have additional income may be required to contribute some of that additional income towards their rent.

Where a landlord charges a rent to a tenant in excess of that declared by him/her on the rent supplement application form, the matter should be reported to the relevant community welfare officer who will deal with the individual case. The existing legislative provisions relating to the making of false statements for the purpose of obtaining payments from the Department and the relevant penalties are as set out below.

Section 251 (1) of Chapter 4 of Part 9 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 states that where a person for the purpose of obtaining or establishing entitlement to payment of any benefit for himself or herself or for any other person, is guilty of an offence where the person - (i) knowingly makes any statement or representation (whether written or verbal) which is to his or her knowledge false or misleading in any material respect, or knowingly conceals any material fact, or (ii) produces or furnishes, or causes or knowingly allows to be produced or furnished, any document or information which he or she knows to be false in a material particular," Section 257 of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act states that a person who is found guilty of an offence under the Act is liable – (a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €1,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months, or to both, or (b) on conviction of an indictment, to a fine not exceeding €13,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 3 years, or to both.