Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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535. To ask the Minister for Social Protection why the rent allowance scheme contact telephone line and e-mail address have been down for over two months; and to reactivate this facility as a matter of urgency in order for persons to be able to make enquires regarding payments. [10229/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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Over the last two months the Dublin Central Rents Unit phone line and email address have been available, as per norm, on a daily basis during that period. However, this rent unit deals with high volumes of work and some aspects of processing Rent Supplement applications are, of necessity, complex and time consuming. This can generate associated volumes of telephone calls and email queries, both ways, between clients and the staff in the unit.

The high volumes of telephone calls dealt with can be an issue at times and the existing telephone system is currently being upgraded to allow it handle higher volumes of calls and to provide better levels of customer service.

Every effort is made to ensure that all telephone and email queries to the Dublin Central Rents Unit are dealt with as quickly and efficiently as possible.

I hope this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.