Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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277. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his plans to recommend the restoration of rent supplement to the Minister for Finance or to the budget oversight committee in the Houses of the Oireachtas. [15685/16]

Noel Rock (Dublin North West, Fine Gael)
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279. To ask the Minister for Social Protection his plans to restore rent supplement in budget 2017. [15687/16]

Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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308. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the amount his Department has saved since 2014 by transferring those persons in receipt of payments under the rent supplement scheme to the housing assistance payment scheme; and the amount he will save in 2016 and 2017. [15694/16]

Willie O'Dea (Limerick City, Fianna Fail)
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317. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of new recipients under the rent supplement scheme, by county, in 2016 to date, in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15876/16]

Jim Daly (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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331. To ask the Minister for Social Protection if his Department has had a sufficient input into the development of the strategy to deal with the housing crisis since 2011 to date. [15997/16]

Aengus Ó Snodaigh (Dublin South Central, Sinn Fein)
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332. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the cost of increasing the limits under the rent supplement scheme by 10%. [16017/16]

Leo Varadkar (Dublin West, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 277, 279, 308, 317, 331 and 332 together.

Supports in relation to housing and the provision of financial supports, such as the rent supplement scheme currently supporting in excess of 55,500 recipients at a cost of €267 million in 2016, are a key priority for Government and are being considered by the Cabinet Committee on Housing in the context of the Programme for Government housing commitments. Given the urgency of the housing crisis, this Cabinet Committee is meeting on a weekly basis which I attend. Officials from my Department are also represented on the Homelessness Policy Implementation Team led by the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government (DHPLG) to oversee the implementation of the Homelessness Action Plan. Department officials at local level are actively engaged with relevant local authorities, Homeless Action Teams, Regional teams and other relevant stakeholders to ensure the necessary supports are provided. Overall the response to the current extremely difficult housing situation has to be multifaceted and I am satisfied with the input that my Department is providing to the overall housing strategy. This level of inter-agency participation ensures greater integration between the key agencies involved in the area of homelessness and related services.

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 local authorities, under the auspices of DHPLG. HAP is currently operational in 19 local authority areas with payments being made in respect of some 10,180 tenancies. The funding for the rent supplement scheme in 2015 and 2016 represents a transfer of funding to the Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government for HAP scheme of over €20 million in 2015 and €24 million in 2016 (cumulative transfer of over €64 million during the last 2 years). Funding arrangements for 2017 will be considered having regard to the costs of rent supplement, rate of roll out of HAP and projected transfers. Where HAP is in operation this Department will continue to provide rental support, under the rent supplement scheme, to those with a short term need, generally because of a temporary loss of employment.

My Department is currently examining the rent limits in the context of the Government commitment to provide for an increase taking account of geographic variations in market rents. It is my intention that increased rent limits will be implemented over the summer months, ahead of budget 2017, subject to agreement by Government. Analysis shows that increasing rent limits by 10% would result in a full year cost of approximately €32 million.

At this time of constrained supply, the Department continues to implement a targeted, flexible, case-by-case approach where rents exceed limits. This ensures that people at risk of homelessness or loss of their tenancy are supported under the rent supplement scheme where increased rental payments are required. Currently, over 8,540 households are supported through this flexible approach. A county breakdown of this information is provided in the tabular statement below.

The Department, in conjunction with Threshold, operates a protocol in the Dublin and Cork areas where supply issues are particularly acute. Following engagement with the relevant agencies this protocol was recently extended to the commuter counties of Meath, Kildare and Wicklow, and to Galway City. The Programme for a Partnership Government has identified expanding this Protocol nationwide, and the Department will continue to work with colleagues in DHPLG, local authorities and Threshold to support this extension.

Landlords are continuing to provide accommodation to persons under the rent supplement scheme with over 5,800 tenancies awarded this year. A breakdown of this information on a county basis is also provided in the following tabular statements.

I would urge that any person experiencing increased rents or facing the threat of the loss of their tenancy under rent supplement to contact my Department’s Community Welfare Service or the Threshold Tenancy Protection service without delay.

Tabular Statement: Rent supplement claims awarded by County January – May 2016

Tabular Statement: Total Increased Rental Payments by County as at 13 June 2016