Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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151. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the average annual cost to the State of rent supplement for one recipient in Dublin. [25060/15]

Kevin 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 approximately 68,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €298 million for 2015.

In Dublin, there are approximately 25,400 tenancies supported by rent supplement at an average annual cost to the Department of €6,320. The recent review of the maximum rent limits profiled the different types of tenancies supported by the scheme which shows that approximately 58% of the Dublin customer base refers to families with children and the remaining 42% refers to single persons or couples without children living in shared or self-contained accommodation.

Rent supplement recipients are required to provide a minimum weekly contribution of €30 for a single person or €40 for a couple towards their rent. Where a person has additional income above the rate of Supplementary Welfare Allowance they are, in certain circumstances, required to provide an increased contribution to their rent.