People are being left to choose between topping up their rent or buying food, Sinn Fein has claimed.

The party's spokesperson for Social Protection, John Brady TD, raised serious concerns about the practice of rent top ups being paid to landlords by rent supplement recipients.

He said: "Ultimately, this means that landlords are receiving an under-the-counter payment in addition to the officially declared rent.

"Successive surveys by Threshold have indicated that about half of tenants in receipt of rent supplement have to top-up to meet their rent, and three quarters of these are households with children. It has also shown that people in this situation have been left choosing between paying their rent top up, buying food or turning on the heating.

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"I do welcome that the Department have acknowledged this issue and are taking steps to deal with it through regulations to put an end to illegal top ups for landlords. However, the measure being put forward to do this means tenants need to prove that they are paying rent top ups and the respective landlord must confirm this, which may prove difficult.

"It was confirmed at the Committee meeting today by officials that recipients of Rent Supplement paying top ups should contact their Community Welfare Officer to have these payments regularised and increases adopted. They will need confirmation from their landlord that they are paying a rent top up. I would encourage those out there to do this and to receive the necessary support."

(CD/MH)