Ms Helen Faughnan:

I will start with Deputy Quinlivan's questions. I wish to put on the record the excellent work Limerick City and County Council has done in this area. It was the initial area for the housing assistance payment and it is now the hub for all the payments around the country. It has done excellent work in that regard. The Deputy asked why the protocol is not being extended.

In conjunction with our colleagues in the new Department of Housing, Planning and Local Government and Threshold, we will look at what areas of the country most need the protocol to be put in place. The housing assistance payment scheme is currently working extremely well in Limerick. More than 1,200 people are receiving the payment in Limerick. The need for increased rent supplement payments is very low there. Approximately seven payments are being made there at present.