More than 47,000 people are claiming rent supplement, with nearly half of them living in Dublin, according to new figures released by Minister for Social Protection Leo Varadkar.
Rent supplements are paid to people who cannot afford the full cost of renting a home and are, in effect, top-up payments to allow them to rent accommodation.
Outside Dublin the highest number of claimants are living in counties Cork and Kildare. At the other end of the scale, there are only 184 households seeking assistance in Co Monaghan.
Last July, Mr Varadkar and Minister for Housing Simon Coveney agreed new rent supplement limits which resulted in increases of more than 25 per cent in some cases.
Under the revised limits the highest rent a couple with two children in receipt of rent supplement may pay in Dublin, apart from Fingal, is €1,275 per month. It is €1,175 in Fingal, €925 in Cork, €700 in Limerick and €875 in Galway.
Mr Varadkar said €253 million has been made available by the Government for the scheme in 2017. He said the aim was to ensure people could remain in their homes for as long as possible.
Social welfare payment
People generally qualify for rent supplement if their only income is a social welfare payment, with some other conditions applying.
In the negotiations with Fine Gael leading up to the formation of the Government last year, Fianna Fáil pushed strongly for changes to the rent allowance scheme. Fine Gael initially resisted, claiming the money would go straight to landlords.
However, changes were eventually included in the agreement reached with Fianna Fáil and also in the programme for government agreed with Independents.
Tenants living in Dublin, Cork, Galway and the commuter areas of counties Kildare, Meath and Wicklow can also access the Tenancy Protection Service operated by Threshold. The figures show 2,634 are currently availing of the scheme, with 2,520 based in Dublin.
Mr Varadkar said: “Since the introduction of this flexible approach, almost 11,000 persons at imminent risk of homelessness have been supported through increased rent supplement payments.”
