Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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44. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection further to Parliamentary Question No. 117 of 10 November 2015, the steps a tenant who was under housing assistance payment should take to avail of rent supplement where a landlord declines to renew a new housing assistance payment agreement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44454/15]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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45. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the number of persons currently in receipt of rent supplement in County Louth for in excess of 18 months; the number of these who have been transferred to the housing assistance payment scheme; and of those transferred, the number who have successfully secured accommodation within the current rent limits of this scheme by community welfare officer region in County Louth. [44455/15]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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46. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the measures that allow flexibility within the rent supplement scheme in cases where applicants cannot source property within the limits she has set in County Louth; and if the housing assistance payment scheme allows for an uplift in the same manner. [44456/15]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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48. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the amount spent on rent supplement from 2011 to 2015 in counties Louth and Meath; the number of persons in these counties in receipt of the supplement from 2011 to date; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [44458/15]

Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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49. To ask the Tánaiste and Minister for Social Protection the measures she has taken to communicate recipients of rent supplement who are concerned at losing their homes in counties Louth and Meath; the supports available to them; and if she will roll out initiatives such as those implemented in County Dublin. [44459/15]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 44 to 46, inclusive, 48 and 49 together.

Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 62,000 people at a cost of €298 million in 2015. The provision for 2015 represents a transfer of funding in excess of €20 million to the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government to support the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP).

A breakdown of rent supplement recipients in Louth and Meath is provided in the attached tabular statements. Rent supplement expenditure from 2011 to 2015 is also provided. A breakdown of expenditure by county is not available.

The Department’s strategic direction is to transfer responsibility of persons with long term housing needs to the local authorities under HAP. There are currently over 1,500 recipients of rent supplement in Louth of which 1,240 are in receipt of the scheme for periods over 18 months. To date, approximately 240 long term rent supplement recipients in Louth have transferred to HAP. The complete transfer of all long term recipients to HAP will take place over a period of time.

In local authority areas where HAP is in place, including Louth and Meath, new applicants assessed as requiring social housing support will be considered for HAP rather than rent supplement. Rent supplement will continue to be paid to households who are already in the private rented sector but who, generally because of a loss of income through unemployment, require a short term income support to pay their rent. HAP recipients whose landlords refuse to renew their tenancy should engage with their local authority. Policy responsibility and reporting on HAP is a matter for the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

In view of the current difficulties in the private rented market, rent supplement policy continues to allow for flexibility where landlords seek rents in excess of the limits for both existing customers and new applicants to the scheme. Under this approach each tenant’s circumstances are considered on a case-by-case basis, and rents are being increased above prescribed limits as appropriate. Community Welfare Service staff have a statutory discretionary power to award or increase a supplement for rental purposes, for example, when dealing with applicants who are at risk of losing their tenancy or in danger of homelessness. In addition the Department, in conjunction with Threshold, operates a special Protocol in the Dublin and Cork areas where the supply issues are particularly acute, with plans underway to extend this protocol to Galway City. I am keeping this matter under review including any further extension of the Protocol in place with Threshold.

Where Departmental staff are notified of a threat of tenancy loss, the preventative measures are implemented as appropriate. This flexible approach has supported over 5,400 rent supplement households throughout the country to retain their rented accommodation through increased rent payments, of which 71 cases refer to householders in Louth. A county breakdown of this information is provided in the attached tabular statement.

The Department has undertaken a communications campaign to encourage people at risk to avail of these measures and the Tenancy Protection Service (if in Dublin or Cork city) including the issue of text messages to circa 50,000 rent supplement recipients; updating messages on the Department’s website and monthly tweeting of information; updating the Citizens Information homepage and their micro site “keepingyourhome.ie”. A national poster campaign was also launched with posters distributed locally to Department offices, Post Offices, libraries, credit unions, etc.

I believe that these measures - and the reforms to the private rental sector announced last month - will continue to provide adequate support to rent supplement customers and will provide increased certainty for both tenants and landlords in the current market.

Table 1:Number of Rent Supplement Recipients by County, 2011 to date

Table 2: Rent Supplement Expenditure: 2011 to date

1Revised 2015 Expenditure

Table 2: Total Increased Rental Payments by County under Rent Supplement at 07/12//2015