Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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742. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of increasing rent supplement by 20% in counties Dublin and Cork. [32331/17]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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743. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the estimated cost of creating new rent supplement thresholds at sub-county levels for all local electoral areas that are designated as rent-pressure zones and allowing a 10% increase in thresholds in these new areas. [32332/17]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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746. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of households in receipt of rent supplement in each respective year since it was introduced to date in 2017. [32502/17]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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747. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of new recipients of rent supplement in each respective year since it was introduced to date in 2017. [32503/17]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 742, 743, 746 and 747 together.

Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 41,200 recipients for which the Government has provided €253 million for in 2017.

The Department carried out a review of the rent limits in line with the commitments contained in the Programme for a Partnership Government and increased limits were introduced in all areas of the country with effect from 1 July 2016. The rent limit review conducted represents a realignment of the maximum rent limits with agreed rents generally benchmarked against the 35th percentile of those rents registered with the Residential Tenancies Board.

Initial analysis shows that increasing rent limits by 20%, for almost 23,000 rent supplement recipients in Dublin and Cork would result in a full year cost of approximately €39 million once fully implemented.

Analysis of rent supplement tenancies by local electoral area is not possible given current data collection methodologies for rent supplement claims, however, increasing rent limits by 10% for those counties with designated Rent Pressure Zones, namely: Cork; Dublin; Galway; Kildare; Meath; and Wicklow would result in a full year cost of approximately €22.5 million once fully implemented.

As the Deputy will be aware the strategic policy direction of the Department is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of being a short-term income support following the nationwide rollout of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme. Any further review of prescribed rent limits would have to be considered in a budgetary context and in conjunction with my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government.

Statistics on rent supplement recipients since 1999 are provided in the attached tabular statement along with statistics in relation to rent supplement awards from 2014 to date, information for earlier years is not readily available.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Table 1: Rent Supplement - Recipient Numbers: 1999 to Present

*As at end June 2017

Table 2: Rent Supplement – New Awards 2014 to end June 2017