Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Fine Gael)
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To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to pass rent allowance directly to landlords rather than tenants; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [49579/12]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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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 approximately 89,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided €436 million in 2012.

Under the legislative provisions governing rent supplement, the Department’s relationship is with the tenant. Rent supplement is specifically for the benefit of tenants to assist them with their accommodation needs. There is no direct relationship between the landlord and the Department in the administration of the scheme.

However, rent supplement payments can, at the request of the tenant and with the agreement of the Department, be paid directly to the landlord. If the Department were to introduce a system whereby all rent supplement payments were to be made directly to landlords the efficiency of the scheme would be significantly affected. For example, the Department would potentially have to create a formal relationship with some 89,000 additional clients, the landlords. This would involve greater complexity and significant resources to deal with a new set of third parties. It would not be an effective use of resources to have departmental staff negotiating rental agreements for those with a short term need.

It is open to the landlord to bring to the attention of the Department any instance where they suspect that a tenant is receiving rent supplement and is not paying their rent. Where the Department becomes aware that a person is not using rent supplement to meet the accommodation costs, payment of the supplement is suspended and the matter investigated.

Where a landlord has a grievance in relation to the non-payment of rent by a tenant, s/he may apply to the Private Residential Tenancies Board to have the dispute resolved through the Board’s dispute resolution process.