Brendan Ryan (Dublin North, Labour)
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181. To ask the Minister for Social Protection in respect of her Department's review of rent levels for the purposes of setting the caps for rent supplement, the frequency of when these reviews take place; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41299/14]

Terence Flanagan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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201. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the position regarding rent supplement in respect of a person (details supplied); and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41546/14]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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241. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the degree to which measures may be put in place to address the ever increasing situation of the homelessness in County Kildare and adjoining counties arising from the increase in the cost of rental accommodation; if she has in mind any further compensatory measure to address the issue; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [42154/14]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 181, 201 and 241 together.

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. There are approximately 73,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million in 2014.

Rent supplement is subject to a statutory maximum limit on the amount of rent that a recipient may incur and is based on the location of the residence and family composition. The Department is currently reviewing the maximum rent limits, which are generally reviewed every 18 months. The purpose of a rent review is to determine availability of accommodation for rent supplement tenancies and not to provide access to all housing in all areas while ensuring maximum value for money is achieved. Analysis shows that increasing limits at this time will yield only a very marginal increase in available supply for rent supplement recipients with the only certainty that raising limits will increase costs disproportionately for the Exchequer with little or no new housing available to new recipients.

I am aware that in the current market prospective tenants are finding it increasingly difficult to secure accommodation due to the reduced availability of properties particularly in areas of high demand. Raising rent limits may not be the solution to the problem as it is likely to add to further rental inflation and impact, not alone on rent supplement recipients, but also on many lower income workers, their families and students. I plan to keep this matter under close review.

I can assure the Deputy that officers administering rent supplement throughout the country have considerable experience in dealing with customers and make every effort to ensure that their accommodation needs are met, including through the use of their discretionary statutory powers as necessary. A notice reminding staff of their discretionary power to award a supplement for rental purposes in exceptional cases, for example, when dealing with applicants who are at risk of losing their tenancy was circulated earlier this year. The fact that approximately 3,750 people are in receipt of rent supplement in Kildare, of which over 750 were awarded this year, shows that a significant number of persons are being accommodated under the scheme in this region.

In light of a particular concentration of the homelessness problem in the Dublin area, the Department has agreed a protocol with the Dublin local authorities and voluntary organisations so that families on rent supplement who are at risk of losing their accommodation can have more timely and appropriate interventions made on their behalf. Since the launch of this initiative in mid-June 2014, almost 180 families have had their rent supplement claims revised by the Department.

Increasing housing supply and the re-activation of the construction activity is a critical issue for Government and key to restoring stability to the rental market. As part of Budget 2015, Government has announced significant capital investment of over €2.2 billion for social housing for the next three years. In 2015, over €800 million will be invested in a range of housing programmes which represents the first major investment in housing since 2009.

My colleague, the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, Alan Kelly TD, is also due to publish a Social Housing Strategy shortly which will provide a basis for an improved and sustainable approach to the provision of social housing supports in Ireland.