The Minister of Housing acknowledged this Monday, 3rd, that the State has failed to inform people who are not yet benefiting from the Extraordinary Income Support Program (PAER) due to “inconsistencies”, but rejects that there are delays.
“Where the State fails is in not informing these people in a timely manner. I assumed this and the IHRU [Instituto da Habitação e da Reabilitação Urbana] will make this contact. Finance has already contacted more than 40 thousand of these citizens who are competing for this support and we will now continue if the inconsistencies are not resolved”, said Miguel Pinto Luz, asked once again about the delays that several people continue to complain about, who have even sent emails to the newsrooms.
However, the minister once again rejected the possibility of delays, insisting that it is up to those who can benefit from PAER to regularize “the inconsistencies” found in their process.
“There is absolutely no delay”, he stressed, speaking to journalists on the sidelines of the inauguration of the ISCTE multi-core optical fiber test bench, in Lisbon.
The PAER is, therefore, “up to date”, even if “with such inconsistencies” that “have to be resolved and in due time they will be”, assured the minister, estimating around 40 thousand beneficiaries of extraordinary income support in this situation.
“If they received it initially and if they do not receive it now, it is because they either have inconsistencies or no longer have the conditions to receive this support”, highlighted Pinto Luz.
On Friday, before the deputies, the minister left examples of disparities: the landlord’s and tenant’s IRS do not match up or people with zero income who have to explain how they pay their rent.
“By not resolving the inconsistencies, the State does not pay. By resolving the inconsistencies, the State pays and pays retroactively, that is, no one loses a single euro”, said the government official.
As he said on Friday, in the discussion of the State Budget for 2026, Pinto Luz once again devalued “the issue of passwords” at the IHRU, noting that this body “serves more than four thousand people per month”.
Movements for the right to housing and several people potentially benefiting from PAER have reported difficulties in contacting the IHRU, reporting that only 20 service vouchers are available per day, in Lisbon and Porto, to deal with these situations.
Pinto Luz said he understands, but recalled that “there is a portal where people can resolve inconsistencies” – a page that many complain about not being able to access or use.
To which the minister responds by saying that 12 thousand people “have already resolved the inconsistencies in recent months”, which “means that there are Portuguese people who can resolve the inconsistencies”.
Pinto Luz guarantees that “the portal is working, it is public” and that, therefore, those who “feel wronged” should “get this information and the IHRU will resolve it”.
A week ago, in reaction to protests organized by the Porta a Porta movement, the IHRU rejected the existence of delays and suspensions in income support.
In a statement, he denied any cut to the PAER, which currently benefits “more than 134,100 tenants”.
However, he acknowledged that there are administrative constraints related to data validation, which affect around 43 thousand beneficiaries.
Last Monday, Porta a Porta organized meetings at the IHRU facilities in Lisbon and Porto, to demand a service that responds to requests for income support.
Speaking to Lusa, on October 14, at the end of a hearing in the Assembly of the Republic, the president of the IHRU, António Costa Pereira, admitted that the scenario is “very serious”, recognizing the delay in responding to PAER beneficiaries with their situation unresolved.