Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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358. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the current rent caps for rent allowance for each council area in the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8151/14]

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. There are currently approximately 79,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014.

The Department completed a review of the maximum rent limits which came into effect on 17 June 2013 and will remain in place until 31 December 2014. The emphasis of the review was to ensure that value for money is achieved whilst at the same time ensuring that people on rent supplement are not priced out of the market. The current maximum rent limits are prescribed on a county basis with Dublin divided into Fingal and non-Fingal areas. Separate to the county limits, higher rent limits have been provided for in North Kildare and Bray areas.

The following tabular statement provides details of the current maximum rent limits.