Seán Sherlock (Cork East, Labour)
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Question 78: To ask the Minister for Social Protection the action he is taking to ensure a greater transfer of rent supplement claimants to the rental accommodation scheme. [43856/10]

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 overall aim 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 over 96,400 tenants benefiting from a rent supplement payment - an increase of 62% since the end of 2007. Over 44,500 have been in payment for 18 months or more.

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. Local authorities meet the housing needs of these individuals through a range of approaches including: the traditional social housing, the voluntary housing sector and, in particular, the RAS.

Latest figures from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government show that a total of 30,008 transfers from rent supplement to local authorities have occurred since 2005: 16,696 rent supplement recipients to RAS and a further 13,312 recipients to other social housing options.

It is accepted that progress in relation to RAS was initially slower than expected. However the pace of delivery has improved significantly. In total, 14,000 recipients were transferred to RAS and social housing in 2008 and 2009; achieving targets set for RAS transfers for these years. The target established for 2010 is for a further 8,000 rent supplement tenants to be provided with a housing solution by local authorities.

In consultation with the Department, the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government has approved a number of pilot programmes in different local authorities to increase the flow of transfers. These include allowing applicants for RAS to seek out their own properties which, subject to compliance with the normal conditions and the agreement of the landlord, may then be taken into the leasing programme. Approved housing bodies under the leasing initiative have also been advised that they can source applicants for social housing support from long-term rent supplement tenancies also.

The Department continues to work closely with the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government and is represented on a number of RAS implementation groups. The purpose of these Groups is to ensure that the 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.