Ms Marguerite Ryan:

With regard to the need for flexibility for people to move between local authority areas, we issued a direction under circular last year to formalise what was previously an informal procedure on inter-authority movement for HAP tenancies. That is working quite well and it gives people the option to retain places on the existing transfer list while seeking accommodation in neighbouring or different local authority areas. We have been engaging directly on HAP and RAS with local authorities and a couple of different strands are coming together to enable and support local authorities to negotiate to retain existing RAS tenancies using enforcement opportunities under the Residential Tenancies Acts and to facilitate what we can by looking at HAP as an opportunity for RAS tenants. That would have to be on the basis that the RAS tenant was interested in, and accepting of, the move to HAP. Our focus at the moment is on trying to work through all the opportunities in that area.