Mick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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118. To ask the Minister for Social Protection her plans to increase rent supplement levels, in view of the recent rise in homelessness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [41698/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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There are approximately 73,500 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014.

I am acutely aware of the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation in areas of high demand, including those in receipt of rent supplement, in the current market. However, raising rent limits may not be the solution to the problem as it is likely to add to further rental inflation and would impact, not alone on rent supplement recipients, but also on many lower income workers and students.

The Department is undertaking a review of rent limits and analysis shows that the impact of increasing limits 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 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. In light of a particular concentration of the homelessness problem in the Dublin area, the Department has agreed a tenancy sustainment protocol with the Dublin local authorities and voluntary organisations to support families on rent supplement who are at risk of losing their accommodation. Since the launch of this protocol in mid-June 2014, over 160 families have had their rent supplement claims revised by the Department.

Increasing housing supply and the reactivation of the construction activity is a critical issue for Government and key to restoring stability to the rental market. In this context, it should be noted that the Government has recently launched its Construction Strategy 2020.

As part of Budget 2015, Government also announced significant capital investment of over €2.2 billion for social housing for the next three years. In 2014, over €800 million will be invested in a range of housing programmes representing the first major investment in housing since 2009. An additional €10.5 million will be provided for accommodation and related services for homeless persons, increasing the annual expenditure for tackling homelessness to €55.5 million next year. My colleague, Alan Kelly T.D., Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government, is also due to publish a Social Housing Strategy shortly.