Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Fine Gael)
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Question 640: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of applications for rent allowance currently being processed; the average processing time; the equivalent figures for this period in 2007 and 2008; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [29756/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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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. There are currently almost 90,000 people in receipt of rent supplement, an increase of 51% since the end of December 2007.

The rent supplement scheme is administered by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive on behalf of the department and is delivered locally by community welfare officers. The operational arrangements for the processing of applications and the payment to qualifying individuals, is a matter for the respective community welfare division areas.

This year to date, almost 54,200 rent supplement claims have been registered computer system, of which 49,800 have been awarded a supplement. A further 30,800 rent supplement claims have been closed in the same period. There are currently almost 1,670 rent supplement claims pending payment.

A community welfare officer interviews applicants for rent supplement when they first present in order to determine if they satisfy the statutory qualifying conditions for entitlement. They also ensure that all the documentation required to make a decision has been provided. Claim details are recorded electronically in cases where it is established that rent supplement is payable. However, given the considerable pressures on the community welfare service, claim details are not always recorded on the system where no entitlement has been established to rent supplement. Where an appeal has been lodged with an appeals officer of the HSE, claim details are recorded electronically. For this reason, fully reliable statistics are not available on the total number of people for whom rent supplement claims are being processed at any given point in time. Average processing times are not available.

To qualify for rent supplement a person must satisfy a number of conditions. They must be a bona fide tenant, be habitually resident in the State, have a housing need and satisfy a means test. Also, the Health Service Executive must be satisfied that the accommodation is suited to the persons needs and the rent payable is within the prescribed limits.

The timescale for determining applications for rent supplement in individual cases is dependant, among other things, on the availability of the required information, such as details of the applicant's income, bank statements, information from landlords etc. Some aspects of the application are inevitably time consuming and delays can occur where investigations such as home visits or third party evidence are required. Delays can also arise if the applicant is slow to respond to requests for additional information.

The review of the administration of the mortgage interest supplement scheme is progressing. In addition to policy issues, the review will examine operational aspects of the scheme including best practice in the recording, collating and maintenance of statistical data on the mortgage interest supplement scheme. The findings of this review and any recommendations in the area of recording, collating and maintenance of statistical data will be equally applicable to the rent supplement scheme.