Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

It will be a mixture, and yes they are competent. We are in continuous discussions with them. We meet weekly at different levels and I chair the monthly social housing implementation strategy meeting. We met with them last week, so "Yes" is the answer to the Deputy's query.

Questions were also asked about the rental accommodation scheme, RAS. There will be 2,000 more in the RAS scheme. One must also remember there are a few areas which do not have housing assistance payment yet, so bringing in more RAS is a necessity. There are areas where RAS is more successful than in other areas but we still need to use it. It is a very important scheme. We have rolled out HAP in seven local authorities with five more are to come on stream. It is an analysis we have just made and I expect to make an announcement on those five in the next week or so. There are over 1,000 people currently signed up to HAP. Percentages of transfers from RAS into the new HAP are in the region of 50%.