Claire Kerrane (Roscommon-Galway, Sinn Fein)
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1020. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the number of recipients of child maintenance who are also in receipt of rent supplement from January 2020 to date; her plans to adjust the existing mechanism of deducting child maintenance payments up to €75 from rent supplement; if there is recognition of the detrimental effect this has regarding the risk of rent areas and homelessness for the custodial parent and their children; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [15394/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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Rent supplement continues to play a key role in supporting families and individuals in private rented accommodation, with the scheme currently supporting over 20,000 active recipients.

Rent supplement is a statutory means tested scheme, payable at differentiated rates of payment according to the applicant’s means and accommodation requirements, and is normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of rent, has an income equal to the rate of supplementary welfare allowance (SWA) appropriate to their family circumstances, less a weekly minimum contribution which recipients are required to pay from their own resources.

For rent supplement, maintenance payments of up to €95.23 per week are fully assessable on the basis that vouched accommodation costs of up to this amount are disregarded in the assessment of weekly social assistance payments such as jobseeker’s allowance and one-parent family payment.

Where a person is in receipt of a maintenance payment of less than €95.23 per week, the maintenance payment is assessed in full for the purposes of rent supplement.

Where a person has weekly maintenance payments of more than €95.23, the next €75 is disregarded in full with 25% of any additional maintenance above €170.23 also disregarded.

The contribution towards a customer’s rent is the aggregate amount of: €95.23 primary payment disregard plus 75% of any maintenance payments in excess of €170.23 plus the customer’s €30 minimum contribution.

The interaction between rent supplement, the primary scheme and maintenance ensures that the recipient retains their full primary payment entitlement whilst making a contribution towards their accommodation costs.  Every effort is made by the Department to ensure that tenants receiving rent supplement can remain in their homes.  ]In view of the on-going rental market difficulties, my Department also implements a targeted case-by-case policy approach that allows for flexibility where landlords seek rents in excess of the rent limits to ensure that claimants retain their homes.  Any specific risk of homelessness should be communicated to my Department at the earliest opportunity.

The Government has established a Child Maintenance Review Group to examine certain issues in relation to child maintenance in Ireland.  The Group is chaired by former Circuit Court Judge Catherine Murphy and includes legal, policy and academic professionals as well as officials from my Department and the Department of Justice.  The Group's Terms of Reference are to consider and make recommendations on: (i) the current treatment of child maintenance payments in my Department; (ii) the current provisions regarding liable relatives managed by my Department; and (iii) the establishment of a Child Maintenance Agency in Ireland.

The work of the Group is well underway.  I am very pleased that the Group launched its public consultation on 11th February.  The consultation process which runs until 26th March provides an important opportunity for stakeholders, whether they are individuals or groups, to provide information, experiences and different perspectives on the areas under consideration.  These submissions will help to inform the review and the recommendations which the Group will present to me later this year.  Any future changes to the treatment of maintenance for the purposes of rent supplement will be considered in the context of the Group's recommendations. 

The tabular statement below sets out the monthly breakdown from January 2020 to date of the number of recipients of rent supplement also receiving maintenance payments.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.