New Events

National

no events posted in last week

Blog Feeds

Public Inquiry
Interested in maladministration. Estd. 2005

offsite link RTEs Sarah McInerney ? Fianna Fail?supporter? Anthony

offsite link Joe Duffy is dishonest and untrustworthy Anthony

offsite link Robert Watt complaint: Time for decision by SIPO Anthony

offsite link RTE in breach of its own editorial principles Anthony

offsite link Waiting for SIPO Anthony

Public Inquiry >>

Human Rights in Ireland
Promoting Human Rights in Ireland

Human Rights in Ireland >>

Lockdown Skeptics

The Daily Sceptic

offsite link What Do Britain?s Admirals Do All Day? Thu Feb 20, 2025 19:30 | David Craig
Since 1939 the number of admirals in the Royal Navy has shot up more than four-fold relative to the number of sailors. What do these highly-paid senior officers do all day, asks David Craig. It's more public sector waste.
The post What Do Britain’s Admirals Do All Day? appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Doctors Who Change Gender Are Allowed to Scrub Past Wrongdoing from Public Record Thu Feb 20, 2025 18:31 | Will Jones
New public records for medics who change gender are wiped of previous suspensions and formal warnings, it has emerged, after the General Medical Council confirmed that this is its policy.
The post Doctors Who Change Gender Are Allowed to Scrub Past Wrongdoing from Public Record appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Mark Zuckerberg?s Charity Sacks Diversity Team as the Great Unwokening Gains Pace Thu Feb 20, 2025 16:06 | Will Jones
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative ? Mark Zuckerberg's multibillion-dollar charity ??has scrapped its diversity team and cancelled funding for projects promoting inclusivity as the Great Unwokening gains pace.
The post Mark Zuckerberg’s Charity Sacks Diversity Team as the Great Unwokening Gains Pace appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Yale Scientists Link Covid Vaccines to Alarming New Syndrome Causing Immune System Damage and Chroni... Thu Feb 20, 2025 13:38 | Will Jones
Scientists from Yale have discovered a syndrome linked to?the mRNA Covid vaccines that damages the immune system and causes chronic fatigue with spike protein persisting in the blood for up to two years.
The post Yale Scientists Link Covid Vaccines to Alarming New Syndrome Causing Immune System Damage and Chronic Fatigue appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

offsite link Amanda Holden ?Took 28 Flights? for BBC Show Despite Net Zero Pledge Thu Feb 20, 2025 11:54 | Will Jones
Amanda Holden has said that she took 28?flights?to Spain during filming for a BBC DIY show, despite the corporation?s Net Zero pledge.
The post Amanda Holden “Took 28 Flights” for BBC Show Despite Net Zero Pledge appeared first on The Daily Sceptic.

Lockdown Skeptics >>

Voltaire Network
Voltaire, international edition

offsite link Putin's triumph after 18 years: Munich Security Conference embraces multipolarit... Thu Feb 20, 2025 13:25 | en

offsite link Westerners and the conflict in Ukraine, by Thierry Meyssan Tue Feb 18, 2025 06:56 | en

offsite link Voltaire, International Newsletter N?120 Fri Feb 14, 2025 13:14 | en

offsite link Did the IDF kill more Israelis on October 7, 2023, than the Palestinian resistan... Fri Feb 14, 2025 13:00 | en

offsite link JD Vance Tells Munich Security Conference "There's A New Sheriff In Town", by J.... Fri Feb 14, 2025 07:37 | en

Voltaire Network >>

Rent Allowance-More Stealth Cuts?

category national | public consultation / irish social forum | other press author Sunday September 20, 2009 11:08author by Greg T - None (Independent left) Report this post to the editors

Highlighting recent changes to the rent supplement scheme as well as other disturbing developments.

As if June's cut wasn't enough, ( see: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/94053 ) waiting period of up to several months for rent allowance assessment to be completed are going to result from recent changes to the rent supplement scheme . This development may make things next to impossible for any newly unemployed without significant savings, in the meantime more and more people are undoubtedly going to become homeless.
http://www.corkindependent.com/local-news/local-news/co...nces/
(It's nice to see a Labour TD taking action on this issue). As if that isn't worrying enough, just been told by someone I know (coincidentally also in County Cork), that new Rent Allowance claims are not being processed at all in her area. This person was basically informed (informally) that her claim was a waste of time and that due to staff shortages new applications will not get seen to. Sounds suspiciously like yet another stealth on the sly cut. Meanwhile the NAMA plans to bailout the rich continue, gombeen politics as usual. If anyone else knows similar stories they need to be highlighted immediately. Affected people need to kick up a fuss or they will be (conveniently) forgotten.

Related Link: http://www.corkindependent.com/local-news/local-news/concern-about-rent-allowances/
author by shoegirlpublication date Mon Sep 21, 2009 17:35author address author phone Report this post to the editors

Isn't the whole point of rent allowance so that people in EXISTING rented accomodation are subsidised, not so that people who are currently receiving a social welfare payment can choose to change their existing accomodation at a whim?

That said, the changes are harsh on anybody who otherwise would be facing the scenario of having no roof under their head - for example if their landlord is selling up or if the family home is no longer a safe place for them.

Forcing low income households into the market sector should never have been a solution in the first place - accomodation should have been made available via social housing, not via giving guaranteed profits to market landlords at obscene overpriced rates and pushing up demand artificially for private rented property through engineering artificial shortages in social housing through non-provision. (But then spending billions on private sector rents instead? Doesn't even make financial sense if you take into account that the cost of housing rent subsidised households over the last 10 years has probably already far exceeded the cost of actually providing them with permanent council or housing association homes?)

The current policy of locking in this form of "non-provision" by long term leasing from private landlords is doing nothing more than subsidizing the worst kind of profiteering landlords.

 
© 2001-2025 Independent Media Centre Ireland. Unless otherwise stated by the author, all content is free for non-commercial reuse, reprint, and rebroadcast, on the net and elsewhere. Opinions are those of the contributors and are not necessarily endorsed by Independent Media Centre Ireland. Disclaimer | Privacy