Slum landlords among those ‘fleecing rent allowance system’

SLUM landlords are among those being allowed to evade tax on €140 million a year given by the State in rent subsidies, it emerged last night.

Chairman of the Dáil’s influential public accounts committee Bernard Allen warned that government “buck passing” had left the housing benefits system wide open to abuse.

With more than 60,000 people receiving the subsidy last year, at a cost to the taxpayer of €419m, Mr Allen estimated a third of landlords were failing to supply PPS information and the social and family affairs department was ignoring the problem.