Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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27. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the steps she is taking to ensure that victims of domestic violence can access the appropriate social protection supports, including rent supplement; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8161/16]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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28. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the social protection supports, including rent supplement, that are available to persons leaving domestic violence situations, where in some cases their names may still be on mortgages, or their means had previously been dependant on their partner; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8162/16]

Kevin Humphreys (Dublin South East, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 27 and 28 together.

The supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) scheme is considered the "safety net" within the overall social welfare system in that it provides assistance to eligible people in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs and those of their dependants. The main purpose of the scheme is to provide immediate and flexible assistance for those in need who do not qualify for payment under other State schemes. SWA can consist of a basic primary weekly payment and/or a weekly/monthly supplement in respect of certain expenses a person may not be able to meet, including rent supplement. It can also consist of a once-off payment to help with the cost of any exceptional needs.

Basic weekly SWA may be payable to anyone in the State who satisfies a habitual residence condition and a means test, has registered for employment, unless they have a physical or mental disability, and can prove unemployment, or anyone who is awaiting the outcome of a claim or an appeal for a primary social welfare payment. The Government has provided some €80 million for the basic SWA scheme in 2016.

The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income 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. The Government has provided €267 million for rent supplement in 2016. Under the new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP), the responsibility for the provision of rental assistance to those with a social housing need transfers from this Department to the local authorities. HAP is being rolled out on an incremental basis and is currently available in 19 local authorities across the country.

Where HAP is not in operation, in order to qualify for a rent supplement a person must have been residing in private rented accommodation or accommodation for homeless persons or an institution (or any combination of these) for a period of 183 days within the preceding 12 months of the date of claim for rent supplement. A person may also qualify for rent supplement where an assessment of housing need has been carried out within the 12 months preceding the date of claim and the person is deemed by a local authority to be eligible for and in need of social housing support. In all other cases, a new applicant who wishes to apply for rent supplement is referred, in the first instance, for an assessment of eligibility for social housing support by a housing authority. Only when the person has been assessed as being eligible for and in need of social housing support, does the person become eligible for consideration for rent supplement. Policy in relation to the assessment of housing need, including where a person’s name remains on a mortgage, is a matter for the Minister for the Environment, Community and Local Government.

Where a person’s safety and well-being are at risk due to domestic violence, Department officials operating the rent supplement scheme have discretionary powers to expedite the award of a payment to the person in question.

This Department may also make a single exceptional needs payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off and unforeseen expenditure. It is expected that the expenditure on the ENP scheme in 2016 will be in excess of €30 million. ENP’s are payable at the discretion of the officers administering the scheme taking into account the requirements of the legislation and all the relevant circumstances of the case, including those in a domestic violence situation, in order to ensure that the payments target those most in need of assistance.