Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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291. To ask the Minister for Social Protection the number of rent supplement cases that have transitioned into the housing assistance payment scheme; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6356/14]

Joan Burton (Dublin West, Labour)
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The purpose of the rent supplement scheme is to provide short-term income support to assist with reasonable accommodation costs of eligible people living in private rented accommodation who are unable to provide for their accommodation costs from their own resources and who do not have accommodation available to them from another source. There are currently approximately 79,000 rent supplement recipients for which the Government has provided over €344 million for 2014.

In July 2013 the Government approved the introduction of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP). Under HAP, responsibility for recipients of rent supplement with a long-term housing need will transfer from the Department of Social Protection to local authorities using HAP. Officials in the Department of Social Protection are working with those in the Department of Environment, Community and Local Government, who are leading the project, in developing proposals to give effect to this transfer. It is intended that the scheme will be piloted in Limerick local authority by end March 2014 with further roll out to selected local authorities during the year.