Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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153. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of housing offers in each of the councils that were refused in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22119/13]

Noel Harrington (Cork South West, Fine Gael)
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154. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of housing offers in each of the councils that a housing unit was refused more than once; the number of refusals for that unit in 2012; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [22120/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 153 and 154 together.

My Department does not hold information on the number of refusals of social housing offered by housing authorities. The issue of refusals is dealt with through the allocation schemes made by each housing authority as required under Section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, and Regulations made thereunder (the Social Housing Allocation Regulations 2011), which set out the conditions that housing authorities must take into account when making their allocation schemes. The making and amendment of such an allocation scheme is a reserved function of the elected members of each housing authority.

Under the 2011 Regulations , where a household refuses two reasonable offers of accommodation within a continuous 12 month period , that household will not be considered by any local authority for social housing support for a period of 12 months from the date of the second refusal. In such cases, the household remains on the list but is excluded from consideration for offers of accommodation for the 12 month period. During this time, the household is not entitled to accrue any benefit from being on the list for priority purposes.

In addition, the 2011 Regulations allow a housing authority to opt for a Choice-Based Letting approach to allocations in its allocation scheme. Choice- Based Letting is a method that can be used for the allocation of social housing which is designed to offer more choice and involvement for applicant households in selecting a new home , thereby reducing the likelihood of a refusal.