Notice of the making of this Statutory Instrument was published in

"Iris Oifigiúil" of 6th January, 2012.

I, JOAN BURTON, Minister for Social Protection in exercise of the powers conferred on me by section 4 (amended by section 96 of the section 198 (amended by section 7 of the Social Welfare and Pensions Act 2010 (No. 37 of 2010)) of the Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 , with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, hereby make the following Regulations:

Citation and construction.

1. (1) These Regulations may be cited as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) (No. 5) (Rent Supplement) Regulations 2011.

(2) These Regulations and the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 2007 to 2011 shall be construed together as one and may be cited together as the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 2007 to 2011.

Definitions.

2. In these Regulations-

"Principal Regulations" means the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 2007 ( S.I. No. 412 of 2007 ),

"Regulations of 2010" means the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) (Rent Supplement) Regulations (S.I. 295 of 2010).

Commencement.

3. These Regulations come into operation on 1 January 2012.

Definition of couple.

4. Article 3 of the Principal Regulations is amended by inserting the following definition after the definition of "claimant":

"'couple' means-

(a) a married couple who are living together,

(b) both civil partners of the same civil partnership who are living together, or

(c) both cohabitants;".

Entitlement to rent supplement.

5. Article 9 of the Principal Regulations is amended-

(a) in sub-article (2) by substituting the following sub-paragraph for sub-paragraph (iii) of paragraph (i) (amended by article 4 of the Regulations of 2010):

"(iii) the rent payable by the claimant is just and proper having regard to the nature, character and location of the residence and, for this purpose, the appropriate maximum amount of rent in respect of which a supplement is payable for the period commencing on 1 January 2012 and ending on 30 June 2013 shall be-

(I) the monthly amount set out in Schedule 1 to the Regulations in respect of such class or classes of persons referred to in row (1) of the said Schedule, and

(II) the amount as determined by the Minister in respect of any other class or classes of persons,

having regard to the family circumstances and the location of the residence of such persons, and", and

(b) by deleting sub-article (4) (inserted by article 4 of the Social Welfare (Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) (No. 4) (Civil Partnership) Regulations 2011 ( S.I. No. 603 of 2011 )).

Amount of supplement.

6. Article 12 (amended by article 4 of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) (Amendment) (Rent Supplement) Regulations 2009 ( S.I. No. 202 of 2009 )) of the Principal Regulations is amended-

(a) by substituting the following sub-article for sub-article (1):

"(1) Subject to these Regulations, the amount of a supplement payable under Part 3 of these Regulations to a claimant in respect of a week shall be-

(a) in the case of a claimant who is a single person, the difference between his or her weekly needs less €30 and his or her weekly means, less the weekly amount of rent or mortgage interest, as the case may be, payable by him or her,

(b) in the case of a claimant who is one of a couple, the difference between his or her weekly needs less €35 and his or her weekly means, less the weekly amount of rent or mortgage interest, as the case may be, payable by him or her.", and

(b) by substituting the following sub-article for sub-article (4):

"(4) In the case of a person to whom article 6(7) of the Social Welfare (Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 1977 to 1994 applied on commencement of the Social Welfare (Consolidated Supplementary Welfare Allowance) Regulations 1995 ( S.I. No. 382 of 1995 ), sub-article (1)(a) shall be construed as if '€5.71' were substituted for '€30' and sub-article (1)(b) shall be construed as if '€5.71' were substituted for '€35'.".

Maximum rent limits.

7. The Principal Regulations are amended by substituting the following Schedule for Schedule 1 (amended by article 5 of the Regulations of 2010):

"SCHEDULE 1

Maximum Rent Limits

The Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform consents to the foregoing Regulations.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

22 December 2011.

BRENDAN HOWLIN,

Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform.

GIVEN under my Official Seal,

22 December 2011.

JOAN BURTON,

Minister for Social Protection.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

(This note is not part of the Instrument and does not purport to be a legal interpretation.)

These regulations provide for an increase in the minimum weekly contribution payable for the purposes of the Rent Supplement scheme. The minimum contribution in the case of a single tenant is being increased from €24 to €30 and in the case of a couple a minimum weekly contribution of €35 will be payable. These new minimum contributions will take effect from 1 January 2012.

These regulations also provide for new maximum rent limits effective from 1 January 2012 until 30 June 2013.