Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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418. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will identify accommodation in Ashbourne or Ratoath, County Meath available to rent suitable for a couple/one parent family with three children for €650 as of today; if she will provide the same for a couple/one parent family with two children for €600; if she will acknowledge that there is a serious discrepancy between the rent supplement threshold and the actual cost of rent in these towns; if she will immediately address this situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50854/13]

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin (Cavan-Monaghan, Sinn Fein)
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420. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will identify accommodation in Ashbourne or Ratoath, County Meath, that is available to rent and suitable for a couple or one parent family with three children for €650 as of today; if she will provide the same for a couple or one parent family with two children for €600 and a couple or one parent family with one child for €550; if she will acknowledge that there is a serious discrepancy between the rent supplement threshold and the actual cost of rent in the towns in question; if she will immediately address this situation; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [50861/13]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 418 and 420 together.

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 81,000 persons in receipt of rent supplement for which the Government has provided over €403 million in 2013.

Revised rent limits under the rent supplement scheme have come into force with effect from Monday 17 June 2013 and will be in place until 31 December 2014. The new rent limits have been determined following an extensive review of the private rental market based on the most up-to-date data available. There have been increases in the maximum rent limits in Dublin and Galway while there have been some reductions across a number of counties, including some categories in County Meath, reflecting the conditions in the rental markets in those counties. Special provisions are made in exceptional circumstances including, for example, people with disabilities in specially adapted accommodation or homeless persons.

There are currently 1,981 rent supplement recipients in County Meath, of which almost 200 are in the Ashbourne and Ratoath areas. In arriving at the appropriate rent limits for County Meath rent levels in the major population centres in the county were tested. Analysis shows that there are properties available within the maximum rent limits for rent supplement recipients in County Meath. However, the number of rental properties available in the specific locations referred to by the Deputy is significantly lower than the numbers available in the rest of the county and therefore impacts on the number of accommodation units available for renting and their cost.

A search conducted on a leading property website shows that there are a total of 121 two and three bed properties for rent in County Meath, of which 12 were available in the Ratoath and Ashbourne areas. None of the 12 properties in these two areas were advertised below the rent limit. It must be stressed, however, that the purpose of the rent limit review was to ensure availability of accommodation for rent supplement tenancies and not to provide rent supplement tenants with access to all housing in all areas. The Department will continue to monitor rent levels throughout the country but at this point I have no plans to revise the rent limits at this time.