Alan Farrell (Dublin North, Fine Gael)
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42. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 41 of 5 February 2015, her views that this case was adequately investigated given that payment of rent supplement was reinstated within a week of suspected fraud being reported; if she will provide information regarding what her Department constitutes as fraud in relation to rent supplement payments; the action she will take given that rent supplement payments in this case were not used by the recipient for their intended purpose; the further action she will take to prevent such instances occurring in the future; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33013/15]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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There are approximately 65,000 rent supplement recipients, of which over 24,700 are in Dublin, for which the Government has provided a total of over €298 million in 2015. Under the legislative provisions governing rent supplement, the Department’s relationship is with the tenant; the tenant makes the application for rent supplement and, subject to the tenant satisfying the eligibility criteria, 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.

Where the Department is notified of issues regarding a tenant not passing the Rent Supplement to the landlord, the Department can request the tenant to authorise payment directly to the landlord. However, this can only be done with the tenant’s consent.

In this case, it is alleged that, having received rent supplement payments from the Department, the client failed to pass the payment to the landlord. There is no allegation that the client did not satisfy the eligibility criteria for receipt of rent supplement and therefore there is no reason to consider that the rent supplement claim at issue was fraudulent.

Any contract/lease agreement that exists between the tenant and the landlord is a private matter, regardless of whether or not Rent Supplement is in payment. Any difficulties that arise between the two parties are a matter for either party to resolve or to pursue through the Private Residential Tenancies Board (PRTB) or through civil proceedings. The landlord in this case informed the Department in May 2015 that he had a PRTB judgement against the tenant.

Every effort is made to ensure the control of schemes and that all information received, including notably any allegations of fraud, are acted upon promptly and in an effective and efficient manner. The attention of staff is regularly drawn to best practice in relation to the control of Schemes.