Ms Mary Hurley:

We did work on it late last year when it was operational in fewer than 16 local authorities.

I hope this will be rolled out more extensively by the end of the year. We may not have all local authorities operating it because some are saying it might not work for them. There is work to be done in this regard. It is operating well in 16 local authorities.

The Deputy asked about the walk-in service. That is in place in Cork and it works well. It is something which we will work on with our colleagues in the CCMA and LGMA with a view to rolling it out in other areas. It is important for people who do not have access to the online service. Choice-based lettings is a priority for us and we will work with the other local authorities in which it is not fully operational over the coming months.

We are examining the FIS issue at the moment. I understand where the Deputy is coming from. We are looking at the suite of eligibility criteria. Members will be aware that a review of income eligibility for social housing is under way. The Housing Agency is doing some modelling in that regard. Our colleagues in Threshold referred to that. Work is being done on the composition of the lists, eligibility and which people need to go on the list and we expect the results of that towards the end of the summer.

With regard to the movement of households, I was asked about domestic violence. Other situations may arise whereby households need to move from one local authority area to another. We have been working with local authorities on greater flexibility, in particular around homelessness. At the first housing summit, the Minister focused on cases in which people were willing and wanted to relocate from pressure areas to rural areas and indicated that we could facilitate that through local authorities. We have been working with local authorities on greater flexibility in specific cases, including cases of this sort. My colleagues in the CCMA can speak to this also but my understanding is that where these special situations arise, people are facilitated with the agreement of the local authorities. We encourage local authorities to work together on a range of issues to facilitate households that need, and want, to move. My colleagues can probably discuss that in greater detail.

I was asked about annual reviews. One of the reasons we were carrying out annual reviews was to get an accurate picture. The process has been under way for a number of years and it is getting sharper. Concern was expressed about people who did not respond and might fall off the list. In that regard, the first time the review was carried out, there was a large and detailed exercise as to where the list was at. Mr. Rafferty has been providing training sessions to local authority staff and working with them to ensure we capture everyone in need and we have the most accurate list.

I was asked about home repossessions. We are trying to focus on prevention where people present at local authorities and it is better if they never enter emergency accommodation in the first place. Ms Ryan is working with local authorities on the place finder service. If we know that someone will lose his or her home in six weeks, it makes sense to commence working with him or her immediately. That is something we will follow up on.