Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The transition process for this has been exceptionally difficult because, as the Deputy will appreciate, there are 44 local authority rent schemes and associated computer systems, all of which are different. We would like rent supplement to be properly transferred to local authorities. The disadvantage of rent supplement for somebody who is unemployed is that it constitutes an unemployment trap because if they get offered employment they lose all their rent supplement. That is what lies behind the idea of transferring it to the local authorities. The local authorities, the Department of the Environment, Community and Local Government and the County and City Managers Association have been working very intensively in recent years to introduce the HAP proposal. As I said on my reply, I expect the Limerick pilot to commence by the end of the first quarter in 2014 - that is what has been indicated to me.

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