Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour) | Oireachtas source

The implementation of the housing assistance payment, HAP, is a key Government priority and a major pillar of the social housing strategy 2020, which I launched last week. Whatever one's opinion, I hope Deputies will see it as a step in the right direction, given the scale of investment that has been secured. The HAP scheme will bring all social housing supports provided by the State under the aegis of local authorities. The scheme will remove a barrier to employment by allowing recipients to remain in the scheme if they gain full-time employment. HAP will also improve regulation of the rented accommodation being supported and provide certainty for landlords as regards their rental income.

Under section 19 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, as amended, HAP is deemed to be a social housing support and, consequently, households in receipt of HAP are not entitled to remain on the local authority waiting list for social housing support. However, HAP recipients may access other social housing supports by applying to go on the local authority transfer list.

HAP has been rolled out in seven local authority areas on a pilot basis.

As an immediate step, I have issued a statutory direction to the seven authorities involved, instructing them to take the necessary steps to ensure that households benefitting from HAP can avail of a move to other forms of social housing support, should they so wish, through the transfer option. I have also directed that HAP recipients who apply to go on the transfer list should get full credit for the time they spent on the waiting list and be placed on the transfer list with no less favourable terms than if they had remained on the waiting list. In practice, housing authorities inform HAP recipients in writing of their entitlement to apply to go on the transfer list when they are approved for HAP.

Before the full roll-out of HAP, my Department will undertake a review of the transfer option with the seven pilot authorities, and this will begin soon. This will inform the overall review of the housing allocation system, which is a key action under the social housing strategy. Once the review is complete, I will make the necessary regulations to ensure the transfer option for HAP recipients operates consistently and effectively as part of the national roll-out of the new scheme.

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