Just 31 tenants out of 33,000 in receipt of rent supplement have been provided with long-term accommodation under a housing initiative launched by the Government a year and a half ago.
Under the rental accommodation scheme, announced in July 2004, local authorities became responsible for providing tenants in receipt of rent supplement for 18 months with long-term housing.
Latest figures compiled by the Department of Environment and Local Government show 31 tenants, or 0.1 per cent, have been moved to the rental accommodation scheme out of the total number of people in receipt of rent allowance for more than 18 months.
Local authorities are obliged to meet the housing needs of these individuals through social housing, the voluntary housing sector and a new public-private partnership type rental accommodation scheme.
It is aimed at minimising tenants' dependence on rent supplement and bringing the cost of the welfare allowance under control. Its cost has increased dramatically, from €150 million in 2000 to €353 million last year.
Latest figures show 59,141 households get the rent supplement.
The new arrangements are being implemented in 11 local authority areas and are due to be extended to all areas by the end of this year.
The department said it anticipated that all tenants in receipt of rent allowance for more than 18 months would be automatically provided with long-term accommodation from September 2008. However, the slow pace at which the scheme is operating appears to put this target in doubt.
Patrick Burke, director of the national housing organisation Threshold, said the delay was due to a range of reasons, including difficulties facing local authorities in finding private accommodation of sufficient standard.
"It will be difficult [to reach official targets] because people on the rent supplement are typically in the lower end of the market, which tends not to be compliant with minimum standards. The State can't be seen to support these properties."
The department said the new scheme was still being rolled out and local authorities were in the process of negotiating with landlords to form a stock of contracted accommodation, as well as negotiating with the existing landlords of tenants on rent supplement.
It said it was possible that local authorities may not be able to provide a suitable accommodation arrangement in particular cases, either through lack of immediate availability, or due to some problem with the person's existing accommodation.
In the event of suitable accommodation not being available for a person who has been on rent supplement for 18 months or more, there was no question of withdrawing the benefit, the department added.
