Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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548. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount spent by her Department in each of the years 2018 to 2020 and to date in 2021, on housing assistance payments, rent supplements and or other payments in the matter of housing or rent in tabular form in north County Kildare and nationally, respectively; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26179/21]

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 19,570 recipients (end April 2021).

The scheme provides 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 scheme ensures that those who were renting, but whose circumstances have changed due to temporary loss of employment or income, can continue to meet their rental commitments

Since the introduction of HAP, rent supplement continues to revert to its original role of providing short-term support to those who have become temporarily unemployed and require income support to meet their tenancy cost whilst they seek alternative employment. 

Under the SWA scheme, my Department can make a single Exceptional Needs Payment (ENP) to help meet essential, once-off expenditure, which a person could not reasonably be expected to meet out of their weekly income. The ENP is demand led and payments are made 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. 

The tabular statements attached provide a summary of expenditure, as requested, for the years 2018 to 2020 and to date in 2021. Rent supplement's outturn by local authority or county are not maintained

My Department does not have any role in relation to the Housing Assistance Payment which is administered by Local Authorities.

Tabular Statement 1: National Expenditure 2018-2020 and to date in 2021. 

Tabular Statement 2: Expenditure on Housing related Exceptional Needs Payments in County Kildare in the period 2018-2020and to date in 2021.

Note: These figures are taken from the Department's ENP database and represent a snapshot of ENPs as they are approved by an officer rather than when they are paid.  The figures do not capture payments that are cancelled, payments that go out of date or overpayments recouped.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Réada Cronin (Kildare North, Sinn Fein)
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549. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection the amount paid to dentists on the PRSI system in each of the years 2017 to 2020, the number of patients treated in the system; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [26196/21]

Heather Humphreys (Cavan-Monaghan, Fine Gael)
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The number of customers treated under the PRSI Dental Treatment Benefit Scheme, and the total paid to dentists for their work on the scheme, in the years 2017 to 2020 inclusive are detailed below.