Written answers

Wednesday, 17 September 2014

Department of Social Protection

Rent Supplement Scheme Administration

Photo of Sandra McLellanSandra McLellan (Cork East, Sinn Fein)
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117. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if discretion can be applied for rent allowance when acceptance onto a social housing list is refused because the applicant fails to meet the local authoritie's criteria, for a number of reasons (details supplied) but still have a housing need; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [34032/14]

Photo of Joan BurtonJoan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources. 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 73,800 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014.

It is a condition of rent supplement that a person must have been residing in private rented accommodation, or accommodation for homeless persons or an institution (or any combination of these) for a period of 183 days within the preceding 12 months of the date of claim for rent supplement. A person may also qualify for rent supplement where an assessment of housing need has been carried out and the person is deemed by a housing authority to be eligible for and in need of social housing support.

In all other cases, a person who wishes to apply for rent supplement is referred, in the first instance, for an assessment of eligibility for social housing support by the housing authority. Only when the person has been assessed as being eligible for and in need of social housing support, does the person become eligible for consideration for rent supplement. The eligibility criteria used to determine whether a household is eligible for and in need of social housing support, are a matter for the housing authority and should be referred to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

The Department’s strategic policy direction is to transfer responsibility for recipients of rent supplement with a long-term housing need to local authorities under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). Officials are working closely with those in the lead Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, in introducing HAP on a phased basis, initially in Cork County, Limerick City and County and Waterford City and County from 15th September 2014.

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