Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

42. To ask the Minister for Social Protection when she will make the report on the review of rent supplement levels available. [42282/14]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

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

The Department is undertaking a review of the maximum rent limits, the details of which will be published when finalised.

I am concerned that the impact of increasing limits at a time of constrained supply 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. 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 and students. I plan to keep this matter under close review.