Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 316: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the action she has taken to address the poverty traps associated with the rent supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35259/09]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 317: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of people eligible for rent supplement; the cost of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35260/09]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 319: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the number of people eligible for rent supplement for each of the past five years; the cost of same; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35262/09]

Olwyn Enright (Laois-Offaly, Fine Gael)
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Question 324: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the cost to administer the rent supplement scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [35267/09]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 316, 317, 319 and 324 together.

Rent supplement is payable to people who are unable to meet the cost of renting private accommodation. The supplement is intended as a short-term income support to eligible tenants whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs. There are currently almost 91,000 people in receipt of rent supplement, an increase of 23% since the end of December 2008. The following Table shows the number of people in receipt of rent supplement for the past 5 years and expenditure on the scheme in that time. Provision has been made for expenditure of €490.4m in 2009, which is €50.7m more than the 2008 outturn on the scheme. There is no data available on the number of people who may be eligible for rent supplement but who have not claimed the supplement.

The supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA), which includes rent supplement, is administered on behalf of the department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive. The administration cost of the SWA scheme was €63.1m in 2008 and provision has been made for expenditure of €64.6m in 2009. There is no breakdown available to show the cost of administering the various components of the supplementary allowance scheme such as rent supplement. Rent supplement is subject to a means test which is normally calculated to ensure that, after payment of rent, an eligible person has income equal to the rate of basic supplementary welfare allowance appropriate to their family circumstances, less a minimum contribution, currently €24, which each recipient is required to pay from his or her own resources.

The assessment for the existing rent supplement provides for a gradual withdrawal of payment as hours of employment or earnings increase. Where a person, working up to 30 hours per week, has additional income in excess of the standard weekly rate of supplementary welfare allowance, 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. A person accepted as having a long term housing need under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) may engage in full time employment and still qualify for rent supplement, subject to standard means assessment rules.

In recent years, a significant number of people have come to rely on rent supplement for extended periods. Over 32,600 people are getting a supplement for 18 months or more. For this reason, the rent supplement scheme has to be viewed in the context of overall housing policy, particularly in the case of long-term recipients.

The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS), which was introduced in 2004, gives local authorities specific responsibility for meeting the longer term housing needs of people receiving rent supplement for 18 months or more. Details of these cases are notified regularly by the Department to the local authorities. Latest figures from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government (DoEHLG) indicate that to date, local authorities have transferred 22,400 people from rent supplement to RAS or social housing since 2005.

The fact that there almost 91,000 people are receiving rent supplement indicates that the scheme is meeting need to a significant extent. However, the rent supplement scheme, including the means testing criteria, will be kept under review. The Department will continue to work closely with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government in ensuring that RAS meets its objective of catering for those on long term rent supplementation while enabling rent supplement to return to its original role of a short-term income support and that local authorities are supported in providing a wide range of social housing supports for those with a long-term housing need. Table 1

* Recipients at 2nd Oct. 2009

* Exp. As at end September 2009.