Dessie Ellis (Dublin North West, Sinn Fein)
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116. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if he will provide an update on the implementation of the housing assistance payment; the number of households currently in receipt of the payment; the average rent payment being made; and if there are any difficulties with the scheme. [40937/14]

Alan Kelly (Tipperary North, Labour)
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The implementation of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a key Government priority and forms part of a major pillar of the Social Housing Strategy 2020, which I launched last week. The HAP scheme is designed to bring together all the social housing services provided by the State, with local authorities being responsible for all households with an established housing need, including those whose needs are currently being met through long-term rent supplement. HAP has a number of objectives including the removal of a potential barrier to employment , by allowing recipients to remain in the scheme if they gain full-time employment; provision of a better integrated and more streamlined service; and better regulation of the private rented sector. Implementation of the scheme is being overseen by a high level Oversight Group, which is co-chaired by the Secretaries General of my Department and of the Department of Social Protection.

Further to the enactment of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014 on 28 July 2014, the first phase of the HAP statutory pilot commenced with effect from 15 September in Limerick City and County Council, Waterford City and County Council and Cork County Council. Subsequently, from 1 October HAP, commenced in Louth, Kilkenny, South Dublin and Monaghan County Councils. It is intended that Dublin City Council be part of the statutory pilot in the near future, with a specific focus on accommodating homeless households. In order to provide efficiencies and to test HAP processes, Limerick City and County Council is providing a transactional shared service to other local authorities during the pilot phase.

There are now 253 households in receipt of HAP across 6 of the local authority areas taking part in the statutory pilot. South Dublin County Council is currently assessing new applicants for HAP and expects to start moving recipients onto HAP in the coming weeks.

I understand that the average differential rent payment being made by HAP recipients to the local authority at present is €40 per week. The average monthly rent being paid to landlords under the pilot phase of the scheme is €462 across all classes of households.

During the legislation’s passage through the Oireachtas in July 2014 an undertaking was given that a report would be prepared for the relevant Oireachtas Committee that would include a full review of the statutory pilot phase. Data for the report are being gathered from pilot sites and the report will be compiled and submitted to the Oireachtas Committee on Environment, Culture and the Gaeltacht in early 2015, in advance of full roll out of the Scheme.