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# Social Welfare
What counties have the highest number of people on rent allowance?
Outside of Dublin, Wexford has the highest concentration.
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NEW FIGURES FROM the Department of Social Protection reveal where the highest concentrations of people in receipt of rent allowance are.
This payment can be paid to people in private accommodation but who cannot afford to pay their rent from their own resources.
Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton describes it as a “short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs”.
The Government has set aside €344 million this year for the payment.
As of the end of May 2014, 76,237 people were receiving this payment.
Dublin comes out on top with 2.23% of the population in receipt of rent allowance.
Wexford is second with 2.01%, or 2,920 people.
The remaining counties in the top five are Carlow (1.99%/1088), Louth (1.92%/2316), and Kildare (1.83%/3842).
The lowest were Cavan (0.58%/424), Monaghan (0.62%/375), and Sligo (0.74%/485).
The figures were provided by Minister for Social Protection Joan Burton to Labour TD Aodhán Ó Ríordáin in a parliamentary question.
Last month it was revealed that landlords are banned from accepting rent allowance in Ballymun, Co Dublin, to “attain a good social mix”.
The ban on accepting rent supplement was lobbied for by locals as part of the area’s regeneration, the Department said in a statement.
