Jack Wall (Kildare South, Labour)
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Question 352: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs the reason a rent subsidy has been stopped for a person (details supplied) in County Kildare; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [33367/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE), as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.

The Executive has advised that payment of rent supplement has not been stopped and is being paid directly to the landlord at the request of the person concerned.

Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael)
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Question 353: To ask the Minister for Social and Family Affairs if she has reviewed the mortgage interest supplement scheme payable by the community welfare officer to ascertain if it is adequately designed to meet the threat of people losing their jobs in a situation where they may suffer from negative equity; and if she has reviewed the rule which requires the complete withdrawal of the mortgage supplement if a person takes up full-time employment, which may serve to trap people in a situation of dependency. [33391/08]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The supplementary welfare allowance scheme (SWA) provides for a supplement to be paid in respect of mortgage interest to any person in the State whose means are insufficient to meet their needs.

The purpose of the mortgage interest supplement is to provide short-term income support to eligible people who are unable to meet their mortgage interest repayments in respect of a house which is their sole place of residence. The supplement assists with the interest portion of the mortgage repayments only.

Mortgage interest supplement is normally calculated to ensure that a person, after the payment of mortgage interest, has an income equal to the rate of SWA appropriate to their family circumstances, less a minimum contribution, currently € 13, which recipients are required to pay from their own resources. Many recipients pay more than €13 because they are required, subject to certain income disregards, to contribute any additional assessable means that they have, over and above the appropriate SWA rate, towards their accommodation costs.

Since June 2007, where a person has additional income in excess of the standard weekly rate of supplementary welfare allowance, the first €75 of such additional income together with 25% of any additional income above €75 is disregarded for means assessment purposes. 'Additional income' is the amount of income in excess of the SWA rate, applicable to household circumstances and includes income derived from part-time employment or self- employment (under 30 hours per week), any employment or training scheme (e.g. CE or FÁS course), family income supplement and maintenance payments in excess of €95.23.

Arrangements are in place to allow a person to participate in approved employment or t raining schemes or engage in full-time employment and retain entitlement to mortgage interest supplement on a tapered basis for up to 4 years in certain circumstances.

Overall, I am satisfied that the current mortgage interest supplement scheme provides an adequate short-term "safety net" within the overall social welfare system to ensure that people do not suffer hardship due to loss of employment. Nonetheless I intend to keep the scheme under review to ensure that the schemes meet the objective of catering for those who require assistance on a short-term basis.

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Rent supplement is administered on behalf of the Department by the community welfare division of the Health Service Executive (HSE), as part of the supplementary welfare allowance scheme.

The Executive has advised that the person concerned had been in receipt of rent supplement until 13 September 2008. Payment of the supplement ceased as the person concerned is in full-time education and is not in receipt of a back to education allowance. If the person concerned is not satisfied with the decision of the Executive, it is open to her to lodge an appeal against the decision.

People in full-time education are normally excluded from receipt of rent supplement under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme. However, people participating in approved courses who qualify for back to education allowance, receive a standard weekly rate of payment equivalent to the maximum rate of their previous social welfare payment. They may also qualify for rent supplement, subject to the standard qualifying conditions of the rent supplement scheme.