Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I propose to take Questions Nos. 17 and 32 together.

Approximately 13,600 households are currently being supported by the housing assistance payment scheme across 19 local authority areas in which the scheme is operational, including eligible homeless households under the homeless HAP pilot scheme managed by the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, which I met just before Question Time began, for all four local authorities in the Dublin region. On average, approximately 224 additional households have been supported by HAP each week during 2016 and this figure continues to rise with 362 households commencing support under the scheme this week. HAP will be rolled out in nine more local authority areas before the end of 2016, with the remaining three Dublin authorities coming on stream towards the end of the first quarter of 2017. This will complete the full roll-out of the scheme.

The phased nature of the HAP roll-out has allowed for significant learning in the operation of the scheme. In this way, new HAP authorities have benefited from the experience of those authorities where the scheme has been operational longest. The HAP practitioners group, which is made up of local authority staff and was established following a review of HAP governance structures earlier this year, meets regularly to discuss issues or opportunities they identify to improve the operation of the scheme. My Department continues to work with key stakeholders, like the HAP practitioners group, who also are represented at the HAP project board to ensure the scheme's operation is as effective and efficient as possible.

As for HAP and social housing waiting lists, local authorities have been 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. As of mid-September 2016, more than 160 households have transferred from the scheme to other forms of social housing support.

In general, I am very satisfied with how the HAP scheme is operating and I consider it to be a key vehicle for meeting housing need, particularly in the immediate term, and for fulfilling the ambitions of the Rebuilding Ireland plan.

See this speech in context