KERRY’S €8.5M BILL FOR RENT ASSISTANCE[

OVER 1,500 PEOPLE IN THE COUNTY ARE RECEIVING STATE HELP TO PAY THEIR RENT

OVER 1,500 people in Kerry are receiving rent supplement payments from the state according to new figures released by the Department of Social Protection.

Social Protection Minister Leo Varadkar released the figures on foot of a Dáil question from Limerick Fianna Fáil TD Willie O’Dea before the parliament adjourned for its Christmas break.

According to Minister Varadkar as of the end of November 2016 there were 1,555 people in Kerry in receipt of Rent Supplement payments.

While an exact county-by-county breakdown of the payment amounts was not provided, Minister Vardakar said recipients across the country were paid an average of €5,493 a year.

This would equate to a bill of over €8.5 million in Kerry for the period from January 1 to the end of November last year.

In addition Minister Varadkar said that as of December 12 a total of 181 people in Kerry had been approved for increased rent supplement payments – above the standard threshold applied by the Department – in cases where landlords have increased their rental rates above the normal limit.

The existing Rent Supplement Payment Scheme is set to be replaced by the new Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) programme which will see responsibility for long term housing assistance payments transferred from the Department to the respective local authority.

The roll out of this programme, which was piloted in Limerick in early 2014, has commenced in all local authority regions outside Dublin.