Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 71: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if he will provide details of the changes he plans to make to the maximum rate of rent supplement. [21612/10]

Éamon Ó Cuív (Galway West, Fianna Fail)
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The purpose of the rent supplement scheme 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. The schemes primary purpose is to provide short term assistance, and not to act as an alternative to the other social housing schemes operated by the Exchequer. There are currently almost 95,500 tenants benefiting from a rent supplement payment - an increase of over 58 per cent since the end of 2005. The total cost of the rent supplement scheme for 2009 was €511m.

Rent supplements are subject to a limit on the amount of rent that an applicant for rent supplement may incur. Rent limits are set at levels that enable different types of eligible households to secure and retain basic suitable rented accommodation, having regard to different rental market conditions that prevail in various parts of the State. The objective is to ensure that rent supplement is not paid in respect of overly expensive accommodation having regard to the size of the household and market conditions. Furthermore, it is essential that State support for tenants does not give rise to inflated rental prices and overcharging by landlords.

Setting or retaining maximum rent limits at a higher level than are justified by the open market can have a distorting effect on the rental market, leading to a more general rise in rent levels. This in turn may worsen the affordability of rental accommodation unnecessarily, with particular negative impact for those tenants on lower incomes who are trying to support themselves without State aid. A review of maximum rent supplement levels is in progress and is expected to be completed shortly. This process will ensure that the new rent limits reflect current market conditions throughout the country, and that they will continue to enable the different categories of eligible tenant households to secure and retain suitable rented accommodation to meet their respective needs.