Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Chair and Deputy Boyd Barrett for his questions. On the first point he made around the exempt regulations, enforcement of standards is key. The Department has been doing work since before I came in to improve standards around the rental sector. I refer to improving standards generally around what is being built and everything else. I do not want to do anything that is going to undermine that progression towards better standards. It is important that does not happen as we move to something that has not been addressed for far too long, and that is the management of the existing stock of buildings. I refer to getting people back living in our urban centres, in our village centres above the shops and having the benefits of doing that, not just for themselves but for the community as well. We are going to do that piece of work on enforcement.

Regarding the HAP payment, and the Deputy cited the numbers from 2017, it is not misleading to say that their housing needs have been met because that is how the HAP system was set up. If we look at the more than 32,000 people on HAP, the vast majority are in stable tenancies and are happy to be in those tenancies. We know that from the numbers. There will always be individuals who are having difficulties with HAP as they will with anything, whether it is an individual who is not using HAP in the private rental sector and the different problems that will arise. Not every tenancy will be successful. I have given the numbers for the exits from HAP and the different reasons that people have come out of HAP. It is there in the document provided as a pie chart.