Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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80. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide, in tabular form, the numbers of recipients of rent supplement in arrears in the years 2013, 2014 and 2015 to date; the amount of arrears in this period; the number of arrears which relate to recalculation of recipients' needs; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17439/15]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin North East, Independent)
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81. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the appeal process in place for recipients of rent supplement who are deemed to have been overpaid following a recalculation of their means; the collaboration between her Department and the local authorities' housing departments when a change in means is communicated to the local authority; the accountability in respect of housing officers being required to communicate these changes to her Department; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17440/15]

Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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120. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of persons in receipt of rent support in lieu of local authority housing at present; the number in County Kildare; the extent to which she expects progressive housing policies to make a positive impact on the position; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [17853/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 80, 81 and 120 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 70,000 rent supplement recipients, of which over 3,600 are in Kildare, for which the Government has provided a total of over €298 million for in 2015. Statistics in relation to persons in receipt of rent supplement in lieu of local authority housing are not available.

Under the legislative provisions governing rent supplement, the Department's relationship is with the tenant; the tenant makes the application for rent supplement and payment is generally made to the tenant to assist them with their accommodation needs. There is no direct contractual relationship between the landlord and the Department in the administration of the scheme. The information requested in relation to arrears is not available. It is open to any landlord to bring to the attention of the Department any instance where they suspect that a tenant is receiving rent supplement and is not paying their rent. Where the Department becomes aware that a person is not using rent supplement to meet the accommodation costs, payment of the supplement may be suspended and the matter investigated.

Any person who is dissatisfied with a decision on their rent supplement claim, including the decision regarding an overpayment, may appeal to the Social Welfare Appeals Office. The appeal must be in writing and within 21 days of the date they were notified of the decision on their claim. The Social Welfare Appeals Office functions independently of the Minister for Social Protection and of the Department and is responsible for determining appeals against decisions in relation to social welfare entitlements.

The primary responsibility for a disclosure of a change of means rests with the social welfare recipient. Notwithstanding this, there is ongoing dialogue between staff in the community welfare service and the housing authorities to ensure that a person's accommodation needs are appropriately addressed and, where necessary, the provision of relevant information.

The Department's strategic policy direction is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of being a short term income support by transferring responsibility for persons with long term housing needs to the local authorities under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). HAP is being designed so as to bring all of the social housing services provided by the State together under the local authority system which will provide for a number of positive improvements. New applicants with long term housing needs will be considered under HAP in these local authority areas rather than rent supplement. As part of the implementation of HAP, the Department is working closely with the Local Government Management Agency (LGMA), on behalf of the local authorities, to agree data sharing protocols and to develop a new technical platform.