Written answers
Wednesday, 20 May 2009
Department of Social and Family Affairs
Social Welfare Benefits
Michael Creed (Cork North West, Fine Gael)
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Question 201: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason a person (details supplied) in County Cork was refused rent allowance; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [20553/09]
Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. 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. The Executive has advised that the person concerned was refused rent supplement as her income from one-parent family payment, maternity benefit and maintenance payments is sufficient to meet her accommodation costs. The person concerned has been advised of her right of appeal against the decision to an Appeals Officer of the Executive.
Comments
Peter Barrins
Posted on 27 May 2009 12:38 pm (Report this comment)
The reason there is a shortage of social housing is because FF focused their efforts on assisting property developers, provided tax incentives for developments that were not needed, etc. They even allowed developers to buy their way out of the 10% social housing requirement.
FF has no interest in the most vulnerable or the poorest in society. Along with the PDs, they have pursued right wing, neo-liberal policies, and are now completely focused on bailing out the banks and possibly the property developers who caused the mess. The poor people, pensioners and ordinary workers will pay the price.
Mary Hanafin, like the rest of the government, is clearly at a complete remove from reality.
mandy kelly
Posted on 27 May 2009 10:01 pm (Report this comment)
Rent allownce rates are and have been for a long time not in sync with the actual cost of the average rate.
Thats why tenants are paying over the odds under the table even though its draining all there finance.
This has been a well known fact for years now.By all involved.......
People on the housing list are crying out for houses to live in that they can afford and if they refuse and offer its because the house is in a dangerous area that wouldnt be safe for there children or there property and this is also a well known fact from all involved.......
A person who is lucky enough to buy there own home and i am not putting people who have worked hard and are just lucky enough to afford there own home down more using them as an example,they would not buy a home in any of the places that people are likely to refuse when offerd by the council as they would prefer to live in a nice safe neighbourhood like any normal person.....
something should be done to sort out the anti social people so that these perfectly good homes can be occupied by normal law abiding people who just want a home that they dont have to worry about moving anymore and can settle and make a home, as in some of the debates ive bein reading on this site the minister has said people shoudn,t have the right to refuse an offer 3 times from the council so addressing this anti-social behaviour would put a stop to this......
all this directly effects rent allownce and people on the housing list and on the countries finance so it is all relivent.
I reckon if the government did workshops with all the people on the housing list and rent allowence they would have a greater understanding of what the people need and can put this information to practical use and save money in the long run......
most people just want to be independant of social welfare but it just isnt with in there reach.....so sad but true
mandy kelly
Posted on 25 May 2009 10:32 pm (Report this comment)
I am new to all this but i am very angry at the way people view all who are forced to rely on rent allowence.
I have one child and work partime in a creche.by part time i mean 7 hours a week as i couldnt afford to work any more as anything i will earn after my 7 hours will be taken back in my rent allowence rate.As it is i pay somebody 25euro per week of the 70euro i earn to collect my child the days i work. sooo if i was to work proper partime or full time hours all the money i earned + my one parent family payment would go on paying rent and childcare which with the disgraceful rates that creches charge would mean myself and my daughter would starve and have no heat or clothes when needed.or my daughter would have to walk to school which is an hours walk away.
I have gone over it again and again to find a way out of this trap but it doesn't add up.Theres no way im ever going to ever be able to buy my own home as i would never earn enough.I am on the housing list 7 years and im still not close to getting housed.
The only way the government is going to cut there social welfare costs is to supply affordable social housing as is in demand.And to ensure creches are cut by at least half the price so people have enough money left each week to pay the ridiculisly rip of bills.
Also when i say social housing i dont mean little apartment boxes i know it sounds like the cheek of her being picky about were she will be offerd to live but the sad fact is many people like myself who know they will never afford to buy there own home dont want to be thrown into apartments were they cannot settle as they want a family or are used to living in a house and were you accept when offerd a council house is most likley were you will live for the rest of your life.People forget that you still pay rent when you live in a council house and it is at least ten percent of your earnings and to people who are on a low wage that is a huge chunk and to them it has the same effect as some high earner paying a large morgage the difference being the morgage payer is investing but the renter is getting no return on there money but has no choice.
i know some people will never empathise with what i have said and i dont want sympathy but unless youve been in that position you cant possibly understand all the little catches that social welfare has that stops anybody on it from getting ahead.
thanks for reading
regards m.kelly