Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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385. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the reason it is necessary to stop a person's rent allowance when there is an existing contract with the landlord and the property they are living in has gone into receivership, the receiver has taken over this property; the reason rent allowance ceased immediately; the reason there is such a huge delay in processing the new rent allowance application that has been submitted as this is causing undue hardship. [27103/13]

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. Currently, there are 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. 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. For rent supplement the approach to tenancies where the landlord has entered receivership is similar to that adopted where a change of landlord takes place. A new tenancy has been created with the receiver now as landlord, a new rent supplement claim is opened and the receiver’s landlord Tax Reference Number or Personal Public Service Number (PPSN) are required in order to meet the Department’s legal requirements.

Section 888 of the Taxes Acts places an obligation on the Department to provide the Revenue Commissioners with payment details relating to rent supplement on an annual basis. Section 123 of the Finance Act 2007 Act places a further obligation on the Department to request a PPSN or Tax Reference Number from a landlord before payment of the supplement is made and obliges the landlord to comply with the request. Section 7 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010 provides that rent supplement is not payable unless these details are provided.

The timescale for determining applications for rent supplement is dependent, among other things, on the availability of the required information in relation to the receiver. The provision of a prompt service is a major objective for the Department’s staff dealing with rent supplement applications and every effort is made to ensure that claims are processed in an efficient manner. If the Deputy has concerns in relation to a specific case he can provide the details to the Department for follow up.