Eamon Gilmore (Dún Laoghaire, Labour)
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Question 536: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the areas in which the rented accommodation scheme is currently operating; the number of tenants and number of landlords involved in the scheme; the number of units that have been rented under the scheme; the profile of tenants, in terms of their previous housing arrangements; the average cost to the local authority of renting a unit for each area where the scheme is operating; the total expenditure by the local authority on rent under the scheme for each area where the scheme is operating; the average cost under the rented accommodation scheme to the tenants in each area where the scheme is operating; the length of contracts between local authorities and landlords under the rented accommodation scheme in each area where the scheme is operating; the number of dwellings that were accepted and the number that were rejected for use in the rented accommodation scheme in each area where the scheme is operating. [26352/05]

David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael)
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Question 557: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the progress to date of the rented accommodation scheme; if the first eligible recipients have been housed under this scheme; the number of such recipients; the area of the country where this took place; if his Department will meet the target of 5,000 rent supplement recipients to the housed under this scheme by the end of 2005; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26778/05]

Noel Ahern (Dublin North West, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 536 and 557 together.

Under the rental accommodation scheme, RAS, announced by the Government in July 2004, local authorities will, over a four-year period, progressively assume responsibility for accommodating supplementary welfare allowance, SWA, rent supplement recipients of 18 months or more continuous duration with a long-term housing need.

The RAS is a collaborative project between my Department, local authorities, the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the community welfare service. All local authorities are due to implement the new arrangements during 2005. Roll-out commenced in an initial group of lead authorities, namely Dublin, Galway and Limerick City Councils, South Dublin, Donegal, Offaly-Westmeath County Councils and Drogheda Borough Council. Cork City and County Councils and South Tipperary County Council are now implementing the RAS.

I refer to the reply to Question No. 175 of 29 September where I outlined the main actions to date in implementing the scheme. Based on end June Department of Social and Family Affairs data, a table detailing the number of rent supplement recipients for a continuous 18-month period or more by county follows. Local authority experience to date has indicated that the transfer of households from rent supplement to the RAS will take longer than anticipated. Each transfer has to be conducted on a case by case basis involving contact and information gathering with the community welfare service, the rent supplement recipient and the recipient's landlord. In addition, each individual contract has to be negotiated with the accommodation provider. Good progress is being made regarding these detailed and important local arrangements.

The original target set on introduction of the programme for households to transfer to the RAS in 2005 will not be achieved, because of the need to tailor arrangements according to individual and local requirements. In the meantime, eligible RAS households will continue in receipt of SWA rent supplement.

The first transfers to the RAS occurred in September 2005 with 25 households transferring from the SWA rent supplement scheme in the Galway City Council area. It is estimated that a further 300 households will transfer to the RAS in October, the majority of which will be in the Dublin city, Galway city and South Dublin County Council areas.

The Department does not hold detailed information on individual RAS cases. Local authorities will be required to make statistical returns to the Department in the context of compiling the Department's quarterly and annual housing statistics bulletins. Statistical data on the RAS will be available in the fourth quarter 2005 housing statistics bulletin, copies of which will be available in the Oireachtas Library when published.