Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

A homeless place finder service is managed by the Dublin region homeless executive on behalf of all four Dublin local authorities. This specific and targeted service provides a housing assistance payment-based support service for homeless households and has been successfully operating in the Dublin region, including the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council area, since 2015. The service has been playing an important and growing role in securing accommodation for homeless households across the Dublin region, including families residing in emergency accommodation, as well as supporting homeless households to avoid having to enter emergency accommodation. 

The place finder service has relationships with local estate agents and property owners and can identify properties quickly. In addition, the service can support homeless households to secure a tenancy by providing upfront payments for deposits and rent. A similar place finding service has recently been made available in the Cork city area.

The homeless place finder service can also utilise the HAP inter-authority movement protocol which was introduced in April to allow eligible households to avail of the HAP in any local authority area, subject to the current social housing eligibility income bands. Under the inter-authority movement protocol, households identified with a housing need in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown can access the HAP in other areas such as south Dublin or Wicklow and retain access to the transfer list in Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown.  This is a significant benefit to households in areas where the shortage of rental accommodation is particularly acute. 

There are more than 1,600 formerly homeless households whose needs are being supported by the homeless-specific HAP supports across the four housing authorities in the Dublin region, including Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. I am satisfied that the HAP scheme is generally working well, but I will keep its operation under ongoing review.

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