Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 120: To ask the Minister for Social Protection if her attention has been drawn to an issue arising regarding persons with stamp 4 for five years or less being deemed ineligible for claiming rent allowance as they have become precluded from joining local authority social housing lists; if she has been in contact with the Departments of the Environment, Community and Local Government and Justice and Equality on the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12998/11]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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From July 2009, a new condition for rent supplement was introduced which required that in order to qualify, a person must have been residing in private rented accommodation or accommodation for homeless persons or an institution (or any combination of these) for a period of 183 days within the preceding 12 months of the date of claim for rent supplement. A person may also qualify for rent supplement where an assessment of housing need has been carried out within the 12 months preceding the date of claim and the person is deemed by the relevant local authority to be eligible for and in need of social housing support.

In all other cases, a person who wishes to apply for rent supplement is referred, in the first instance, for an assessment of eligibility for social housing support by the local housing authority in the area where claim to rent supplement is made (and the person intends to reside). When a person has been assessed as being eligible for and in need of social housing support, the person then becomes eligible for consideration for rent supplement.

This condition was introduced following consultation with the Department of the Environment, Community & Local Government and ensures that the provision of housing support in respect of new household formations is overseen by local authorities. Responsibility for the rules and guidelines used to determine whether a person is assessed as being eligible for social housing support is a matter for the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government.

However, I understand from my colleague the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government that as part of his Department's ongoing liaison with the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service, that his Department has undertaken to review the guidance to local authorities to ensure that it reflects and interprets correctly the position of non-EEA nationals granted immigration Stamp 4 by the Irish Naturalisation and Immigration Service.