Michael McGrath (Cork South Central, Fianna Fail)
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169. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will extend the tenant protection scheme being operated by Threshold and her Department to Cork county; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5538/15]

Fergus O'Dowd (Louth, Fine Gael)
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174. To ask the Minister for Social Protection to set out the amount expended on rent allowance in each of the years from 2008 to 2014 and to date in 2015 in each local authority area in County Louth; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5636/15]

Lucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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177. To ask the Minister for Social Protection to outline her plans and the progress made to provide young persons on a reduced rate of payment and trapped in homelessness with the support and financial means to exit homelessness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [5658/15]

Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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207. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide the same support that is currently available to local authority housing applicants in County Dublin to local authority housing applicants in County Clare, who are living in private rented accommodation, or those who are seeking to secure private rented accommodation but are unable to meet the market-related rent demands, particularly in view of the growing problem of homelessness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6138/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 169, 174, 177 and 207 together.

The rent supplement scheme provides support to eligible people living in private rented accommodation whose means are insufficient to meet their accommodation costs and who do not have accommodation available to them from any other source. There are approximately 70,700 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for in 2015. Rent supplement recipient numbers by county and information on expenditure since 2008 is provided in the attached tabular statements. Rent Supplement expenditure by local authority is not available.

I am acutely aware of the difficulties people are experiencing in maintaining affordable rented accommodation in areas of high demand in the current market including areas of Cork and Clare. The Department has put measures in place to ensure that the housing needs of rent supplement customers throughout the country who are at risk of homelessness are addressed by providing for increased flexibility within the administration of the rent supplement scheme. Notices were circulated to all Community Welfare Service staff reminding them of their discretionary power to award, on a case by case basis, a supplement for rental purposes in such circumstances in July and December 2014. A National Framework has also been developed to ensure that appropriate supports continue to be provided throughout the country in a consistent manner.

The Department continues to monitor the measures in place to ensure that the appropriate supports are in place for rent supplement recipients including the Interim Tenancy Sustainment Protocol operating in Dublin, which was extended to Cork city in recent weeks. The Department’s response will continue to be kept under review during 2015.

Where a person in receipt of rent supplement is at risk of losing their tenancy they should make contact with the Tenancy Protection Service provided by Threshold in Dublin or in Cork city or their local Community Welfare Service as soon as possible.

Concerns have been raised by advocacy groups regarding the reduced rates of jobseeker’s allowance for younger persons and homelessness. The reduced rates encourage young jobseekers to improve their skills and remain active in the labour market in order to avoid the risk of becoming long-term unemployed and will help them to progress into sustainable employment. Where a person is in receipt of a reduced rate of jobseeker's allowance and he or she participates in a course of education or training a higher rate of €160 applies.

In addition to the measures in place under rent supplement, enhanced processes to provide earlier and more intensive engagement, additional places on a number of programmes and youth-oriented variants of existing schemes are being rolled out. This will help to ensure that all of those young unemployed people who need most support, those who are assessed as having a low to medium probability of securing employment in the absence of any support, will receive a Youth Guarantee offer within four months of an initial one-to-one interview.

The Department is also actively engaging with Tusla and non-government organisations in providing the necessary support to vulnerable young people leaving care who are experiencing homelessness or in insecure situations. These cases are managed on a case by case basis and the payment of deposits and rent in advance is considered. This form of assistance is very important to those on low incomes who are at risk of, or who are homeless, or who rely on the private rented market to meet their housing needs. In 2014, the Department made a total of some 3,000 payments of rent deposits/rent in advance at a cost of €1.48 million throughout the country, of which some 850 payments at a cost of over €360,000 were made to persons aged under 25 years.

Table 1: Rent Supplement End of Year Recipient Numbers & Expenditure: 2008 to Date