Gerry Adams (Louth, Sinn Fein)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

1. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if she will provide details of areas in which a co-operative system has been established between the local authorities and community welfare officers to intervene where families, in particular, are in danger of homelessness, and to address the issues they face; her plans to extend this system to other areas; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [7900/16]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

The Department, including through its Homeless Persons Unit and Asylum Seekers & New Communities Unit in Dublin, works collaboratively with local authorities, Government agencies and the voluntary sector in assisting homeless persons to access private rented accommodation. This ensures that, where possible, people are diverted away from homeless services and towards community-based supports. Department officials throughout the country are actively engaged at a local level with the Homeless Action Teams (HATs) and Non-Government Organisations working in the area of homelessness and its prevention.

The Department’s rent supplement scheme plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 57,600 people for which the Government has provided approximately €267 million for 2016. There were over 20,100 rent supplement tenancies awarded during 2015 and over 3,000 during the first three months of 2016 showing that significant numbers of individuals and families are being accommodated under the scheme.

The Department has implemented a national targeted policy approach that allows for flexibility where landlords seek rents in excess of the limits for both existing customers and new applicants to the rent supplement scheme. The circumstances of tenants are considered on a case-by-case basis and rents are being increased above prescribed limits, as appropriate. In addition, the Department, in conjunction with Threshold, operates a special protocol in the Dublin and Cork areas where supply issues are particularly acute, with plans underway to extend this arrangement to commuter areas over the coming weeks. This flexible and targeted approach has assisted over 7,570 rent supplement households nationwide to retain or acquire rented accommodation through increased rental payments. A county breakdown of these cases is provided in the table for information.

The strategic policy direction of the Department is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of being a short-term income support scheme. Under the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), responsibility for the provision of rental assistance to those with a long-term housing need transfers to the local authorities. The Department is fully engaged in the roll out of this scheme which is operational in 19 local authority areas and officials continue to work closely with colleagues in the local authorities and the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government.

I believe these measures and the recent legislative reforms announced to the private rental sector provide a level of stability for those who require support in what has become a highly volatile rental market.

Tabular Statement - Increased Rental Payments by County as at 18/04/2016