Dr. Robert Sweeney:

I am going to discuss briefly some of the supports available for those in need of social housing, particularly the cash payments available to people to support their accommodation needs. As the Vice Chairman said, I am going to talk about RAS and HAP. I will also talk briefly about rent supplement.

To begin with a short overview and reminder of the schemes, rent supplement is the historic cash support available for those in need of assistance with accommodation costs and who are not currently in local authority housing. This payment was originally intended as a short-term support for existing tenants in the private rental sector. Under the scheme, the local authority provides part of the payment in respect of the rental cost - most of it, in fact - and the tenant also contributes a payment. One of the issues with rent supplement was that people working 30 hours or more each week were ineligible. Therefore, it was deemed a financial disincentive to the taking up of full-time employment. An important point is that people who availed of rent supplement could remain on the social housing waiting list. Those tenants were in the private rental sector and could get supports, but they could also remain on the waiting list to get local authority housing or approved housing body, AHB, accommodation.

Rent supplement has gradually been replaced by the RAS programme.

It was intended for long-term recipients of rent supplement - those who had been in receipt of rent supplement for about 18 months or more. Under this scheme, the local authority sources and contracts the landlord for accommodation. Importantly, particularly when we contrast this with HAP, the local authority is responsible for alternative accommodation if the landlord exits. The local authority makes payment to the landlord and the tenant pays the local authority. The tenant payment through the local authority is based on the tenant's income and ability to pay. The tenant pays the local authority and the local authority pays the tenant contribution to the landlord but the local authority will typically pay most of it as well so the local authority takes up most of the slack. Rental limits apply to this as they do to rent supplement and HAP, which means that each local authority will have a limit as to how much it is willing to pay to private landlords. With RAS, the resident is removed from the social housing waiting list so his or her social housing need is deemed to be fulfilled. Importantly, unlike rent supplement, tenants are entitled to continue to work full time or take up full-time work.

RAS and rent supplement are due to be replaced by HAP, which is already replacing rent supplement. It is envisaged that HAP will also replace RAS. HAP is very similar to RAS. One crucial difference is that the tenant sources accommodation in the private rental sector. It is the tenant's responsibility to find accommodation. The contract is between the tenant and the landlord. The contract is not between the local authority and the landlord. It is similar to RAS in that the local authority makes payment to the landlord and the tenant makes his or her contribution to the local authority. The tenant is removed from the social housing waiting list, as with RAS. HAP and RAS are similar in that rent limits apply in each local authority. If the rent exceeds the rent limits, the tenant typically pays the difference to the landlord. Some discretion is allowed in terms of exceeding those rent limits. In what are called exceptional circumstances, local authorities can pay 20% more - 50% in the Dublin area - than the rent limit if the household is homeless. The tenant is allowed to work full time. The difference between HAP and RAS is that with HAP, the tenant sources the accommodation and has a contract with the private landlord whereas with RAS, it is the local authority that contracts with the landlord.

Here is some information on spending. This is what is called social housing output from 2005 to 2019. The social housing current expenditure programme, SHCEP, is the leasing scheme. HAP is here, as is RAS new transfers, Part V - new build-----