Patrick O'Donovan (Limerick, Fine Gael)
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259. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, in tabular form, for 2013 the amounts paid by each local authority under the rental accommodation scheme; the number of houses in respect of which this expenditure applies; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48393/13]

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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291. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide, in tabular form and by local authority, a breakdown of the number of units that are being provided to persons through the rental accommodation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48363/13]

Derek Nolan (Galway West, Labour)
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292. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide a breakdown, in tabular form, of the amount each local authority spends on the rental accommodation scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48364/13]

Jan O'Sullivan (Limerick City, Labour)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 259, 291 and 292 together.

It is not possible to give a specific breakdown by county of the number of units tenanted at any given time under the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS). Numbers in RAS constantly vary as contracts end, tenants move on to other properties, landlords withdraw from the scheme, new tenancies are allocated or vacancies in contracted units are filled. Figures in relation to RAS units are generally provided as the number of household transfers from Rent Supplement to RAS and other forms of social housing support.

Since the Scheme commenced in late 2005, 46,704 households have been transferred from Rent Supplement (RS) to RAS and other social housing options up to the end of Sept ember 2013. The following table sets out the position on transfers by local authority since commencement of the scheme:

Transfers from Rent Supplement to RAS & other formsof Social Housing. 2005 to end September2013

Funding for RAS is provided by a transfer of monies from the Department of Social Protection’s Vote to the Vote of my Department. Monies are provided on an Exchequer neutral basis to meet the costs of persons transferring from the Supplementary Welfare Allowance RS Scheme to RAS.

Since the commencement of RAS, expenditure up to the end of September 2013 has amounted to €607.78 million. During the period January to the end of September 2013 expenditure has totalled €95.47 million out of an allocation of €150 million for the year. Annual expenditure to date across all authorities since the scheme began is set out in the following table.

RAS Expenditure 2004 – Sept 2013