Written answers

Tuesday, 31 March 2015

Department of Social Protection

Homeless Persons Supports

Photo of Lucinda CreightonLucinda Creighton (Dublin South East, Independent)
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201. To ask the Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question Nos. 214 of 24 February 2015, 498 of 5 November 2013, 104 and 105 of 23 September 2014, and in view of the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government figures showing an 11.5% increase in the number of young persons of 18 to 24 years of age experiencing homelessness in the nine months to January 2015, the strategy now being considered for those young persons experiencing homelessness; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [12857/15]

Photo of Kevin HumphreysKevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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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 currently approximately 70,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015.

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.

The Department continues to engage in inter-agency responses to homelessness and through its work in the Homeless Persons Units in Dublin and participation on Homeless Action Teams throughout the country which provides assistance to people in sourcing the most appropriate accommodation available.

The reduced rates of jobseeker's allowance 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, the Youth Guarantee sets a medium-term objective of ensuring that all young people receive an offer of employment within four months of becoming unemployed. The main plank of the guarantee is assistance to young people in finding and securing sustainable jobs, through earlier and enhanced engagement processes. For those who do not find employment, additional offers are provided for. Most such offers are in further education or training. Others are in community-based employment programmes such as CE, Gateway and Tús, or through the JobsPlus employment subsidy for private employment.

In addition, additional places on a number of programmes and youth-oriented variants of existing schemes have been rolled out. First Steps will offer young jobseekers aged between 18 and 25 the opportunity to gain valuable work experience and training with the help of dedicated assistance from Departmental case officers. JobsPlus Youth is an expansion of the JobsPlus employer incentive scheme, and will see employers receive cash grants to assist with wage costs when they hire young people from the Live Register.

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