Luke Flanagan (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Independent)
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207. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if any community welfare officers employed by her Department issued rent allowance from her Department's funds, or previously from funds from the Department of Health via the Health Service Executive, to recipients living in properties owned by community welfare officers; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [21168/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The purpose of 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. 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 86,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €403 million for 2013.

Under the legislative provisions governing rent supplement, the Department’s relationship is with the tenant; the tenant makes the application for rent supplement and payment is made to 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.

There is nothing in legislation which prohibits payment of rent supplement to a tenant whose landlord is an officer administering supplementary welfare allowance. Statistics on any such cases are not maintained by the Department.