Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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Question 127: To ask the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and Local Government the number of social housing applicants currently waiting to have a housing assessment completed; the proportion of those awaiting a determination with regard to rent supplement; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35814/09]

Michael Finneran (Roscommon-South Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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My Department does not collect details on the number of social housing applicants waiting for a housing needs assessment to be completed, or the proportion of those who are waiting for a determination on Rent Supplement. It is a matter for each housing authority under the Housing Acts 1966 to 2009 to carry out housing needs assessments and to allocate appropriate resources to undertake this function. However, service indicator information is collected annually by the Local Government Management Services Board, and provides information on the average time taken to inform applicants of decisions regarding their application for local authority housing. The latest published figures relate to 2007 and show an average time of twenty eight days. The 2008 figures are expected to be available shortly.

The operation of Rent Supplement is primarily the responsibility of the Department of Social and Family Affairs. However, given the necessary close relationship between this support and the delivery of social housing, my Department liaises closely with that Department on any changes in the scheme's operation. In the context of the recent introduction of a new approach to the assessment of housing need for rent supplement purposes, both Departments have undertaken to establish new systems at both national and regional level to monitor and review the new working arrangements. These systems are currently being put in place, and in the interim my Department is using the existing Rental Accommodation Scheme Steering Group, on which the Department of Social and Family Affairs and the Community Welfare Service are represented, as a forum for ongoing monitoring of the operation of the new arrangements and to address any issues arising.