Michael Lowry (Tipperary North, Independent)
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144. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will review the rent supplement levels in place given the rise in market rents across the country, and the reality that persons cannot secure accommodation within the current limits, thereby driving many families and individuals into homelessness. [44795/14]

Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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174. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will consider extending the services of the tenancy protection unit to the areas surrounding Dublin which are suffering a severe housing and homelessness crisis but who have far less resources to deal with the problem; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45138/14]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 144 and 174 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. 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 72,500 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. I am fully aware of the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation, including those in receipt of rent supplement, in the current market particularly in areas of high demand. However, 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, their families and students. I plan to keep this matter under close review.

I want to assure the Deputy that officers administering rent supplement throughout the country have considerable experience in dealing with customers and will continue to make every effort to ensure that their accommodation needs are met. Discretionary powers are available to staff to award a supplement for rental purposes or to increase a payment in exceptional cases where it appears that the circumstances of the case so warrant. A notice reminding staff of their statutory 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.

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 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, over 220 families have had their rent supplement payments increased by the Department.

Staff outside Dublin, including those in the Kildare and Tipperary regions, continue to use their discretionary powers and are actively engaging with the various organisations involved in homelessness, including the local authorities and non-Government organisations. For example, in Kildare there are approximately 25 rent supplement recipients, where there was a risk of homelessness, being paid discretionary payments for rent and a total of 85 cases in county Tipperary. The further use of the tenancy sustainment protocol will continue to be kept under review as the needs of customers and as the current rental market continues to evolve.

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 2015, 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. This will propose a range of approaches and reforms that are innovative and challenging and will provide a basis for an improved and sustainable approach to the provision of social housing supports in Ireland.