Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 163: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if there is a system of paying an eligible person's rent supplement directly to the provider of private rented property; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25566/09]

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 (HSE) 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 tenant makes the application for rent supplement and the Department's relationship is with the tenant. Payment is made to the tenant and is specifically for his/her benefit, to assist them with accommodation needs. Payment of rent supplement can only be made direct to a landlord or landlord's agent at a tenant's request.

Charlie O'Connor (Dublin South West, Fianna Fail)
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Question 164: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the names of persons consulted and the consultation process which led to her decision to reduce rent supplement by up to 8%; her views on whether the decision was prudent bearing in mind the provisions of the Private Residential Tenancies Act 2004; her further views on whether it is fair to control rents in this way without considering the provisions of the Act in relation to market rent; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25567/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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There are currently almost 88,800 recipients of rent supplement, a 49% increase since the end of 2007. The recent Supplementary Budget provided that the weekly minimum contribution payable towards rent be increased from €18 to €24 a week, with effect from 1 June 2009. It also provided that payments currently being made to existing rent supplement tenants be reduced by 8% from the same date. New maximum rent limits have also been introduced from 1 June 2009 to reflect the general reductions in private sector rent levels.

The most recent data published by the CSO, shows that rents in the private sector have fallen by almost 11% since November 2008 and by almost 20% in the past year. A leading property website recently reported that rents have fallen by almost 16% in the twelve months to March 2009 with 5% of the fall occurring since the start of 2009. It is essential therefore that state support for tenants who form a substantial section of the rental market, does not give rise to inflated rental prices.

Existing recipients of rent supplement were notified in advance of the change being made to their rent payment from 1 June 2009. This communication can be shown to landlords as evidence of the revised rent supplement in payment in individual cases. Landlords have also been advised through advertising in the national and provincial newspapers of the general reduction in rent supplement payments and a number of organisations representing landlords and tenants were contacted and advised of the changes to the rent supplement scheme.

Under the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, once the tenancy is at least a year old and where the rent has not been reviewed in the previous twelve months, the tenant is entitled to ask a landlord to review the rent where the tenant feels that the rent exceeds the market rate for the property. While tenants may be 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. In this climate, it is expected that people will be able to get accommodation at the appropriate rental level if a landlord is unwilling to reduce the rent in any particular case.

The obligation of landlords and tenants in relation to tenancy terminations, including the refund of deposits, is also provided for in the Residential Tenancies Act 2004. Under these provisions, tenants are entitled to a refund of a deposit paid at the commencement of the tenancy where there is no rent or utility bills owing, no damage to the dwelling beyond normal wear and tear and the proper notice prescribed in the Act is served. Disputes between landlords and tenants about any aspect of rent or the return of a deposit may be referred to the Private Residential Tenancies Board.

Community Welfare Officers have discretion to provide assistance where exceptional circumstances exist in any individual case. Officers have been advised that support, appropriate to the circumstances of the particular case, may be provided to rent supplement tenants for up to two months, while alternative accommodation is being sourced within the existing rent limits.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 165: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she will review the application for unemployment assistance in the case of a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25570/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The person concerned applied for jobseeker's allowance from 29 May 2009. His claim was closed because he failed to provide documents requested to determine his means. His case will be reviewed if he supplies the requested documentation.

A previous application for jobseeker's allowance dated 26 January 2008 was disallowed on the grounds that he failed to disclose his means. He appealed this decision and an Appeals Officer upheld the Deciding Officer's decision in July 2008.

The person concerned re-applied for jobseeker's allowance on 23 October 2008 and again on 29 January 2009 and these claims were closed because he also failed to provide documentation requested.

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 166: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason for delays in processing applications for various social welfare payments at the present time; the action proposed or intended to address such delays with particular reference to the need to alleviate hardship on persons awaiting payment; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25596/09]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 169: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the action she has taken to reduce the time taken to process applications for social welfare payments; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25599/09]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 171: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the steps she proposes to take to speed up the processing of applications for social welfare payments with particular reference to the alleviation of hardship in the current economic climate; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25601/09]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 174: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the extent to which staffing levels have increased in respect of means testing in order to meet the requirements of higher numbers of applicants arising from the economic downturn; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [25604/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 166, 169, 171 and 174 together.

The Live Register has increased to unprecedented levels as a result of the economic downturn that the country is currently experiencing. The Live Register now stands at 396,871 as opposed to 201,756 this time last year. The Department is committed to providing a quality service to all its customers. This includes ensuring that applications are processed and that decisions on entitlement are made as expeditiously as possible. The staff and other resources available to the Department are regularly reviewed having regard to the workload arising and other competing demands. The average processing time for claims processed in May was 3.68 weeks for jobseekers benefit and 6.35 weeks for jobseekers allowance. Processing times can vary from office to office for a number of reasons including the extent of the increased number of claims, the number of staff vacancies, the duration of such vacancies and the turnover of staff in the office which impacts on the overall level of experience in the office.

During 2008 the need for some 150 additional posts was identified in order to respond to the significant increase in the number of people applying for Jobseekers payments in particular. Staff were sourced during 2008 and the early part of 2009 to meet this requirement.

With the live register continuing to increase, the Department has requested more than 300 extra posts in 2009, in addition to those already mentioned.

Of these: 49 posts have being assigned to date for Local Office Central Support Units in 5 locations. And some 90 temporary staff have been appointed to Local Offices around the country pending the assignment of permanent staff.

In addition to increased staffing for local offices, the number of Social Welfare Inspectors was increased by 16 earlier this year to undertake means testing of claims for social assistance payments including jobseekers allowance, farm assist and carers allowance. More recently it has been decided to assign a further 24 Inspectors and the necessary arrangements are in train to have these posts filled.

Since early 2008 we have been examining all aspects of the work associated with the processing of claims and streamlining them wherever possible without, of course, compromising our scheme controls. Examples of process improvement initiatives introduced recently include: A streamlined process for people who had a claim in the previous 2 years Application forms for the jobseeker schemes are now available on the Department's website. This means that anyone who wants to make a claim can print the form at home and bring it to the local office completed. This helps reduce queuing times. More straight-forward procedures for providing evidence of identity and address have been introduced A more streamlined procedure for claimants moving to jobseekers allowance when their jobseekers benefit expires. We have introduced an appointment system for taking claims in 16 offices and plan to extend this to other offices over the coming months.

The Deputy will be aware that anyone suffering hardship can apply for Supplementary Welfare Allowance. The supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA) is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE). SWA provides a safety net against poverty in that it gives a statutory entitlement to a minimum weekly income, based on criteria set out in legislation. The majority of SWA claims are processed within a matter of days.