Róisín Shortall (Dublin North West, Labour)
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Question 152: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the way income from community employment is treated in the means test for rent supplement. [32749/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare service of the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.

Rent supplement is calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to his or her family circumstances, less a minimum contribution of €24 which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. Many recipients pay more than €24 because they are also required, subject to income disregards, to contribute any additional assessable means that they have, over and above the appropriate rate of supplementary welfare allowance, towards their accommodation costs.

A person participating on a community employment scheme can continue to receive rent supplement subject to their satisfying the standard means assessment rules. Since 2007, where a person has additional income in excess of the standard weekly rate of supplementary welfare allowance, including income from a community employment scheme, 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.