Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 166: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if the Health Service Executive has authority to determine the location at which a couple should reside in view of the fact that such a determination has been given to a couple who sought rent subsidy and were refused on the grounds that the couple should reside in the home of the parents of one of the applicants; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13446/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the Community Welfare Service Division of the Health Service Executive as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. The purpose of the rent supplement is to provide short-term 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.

A person (or couple) may be eligible for rent supplement if the accommodation is suitable to their needs, the rent is below the maximum rent level set for their county and the person (or couple) has been:

assessed in the last 12 months by a local authority as being eligible for and in need of social housing, or;

living in accommodation for homeless people for 6 months (183 days) out of the last 12 months, or;

living in private rented accommodation for 6 months (183 days) out of the last 12 months, or;

a tenant of accommodation provided under one of the Social Housing Schemes.

And the applicant(s) satisfies:

a habitual residence test, and

a means test.

Applications for rent supplement are made to the appropriate local community welfare officers who will review the applicant(s) entitlement based on his, her or their personal circumstances. Community Welfare Officers review each case based on the circumstances presented, eligibility to rent supplement are based on the above criteria.