Catherine Murphy (Kildare North, Social Democrats)
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145. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government if it is intended as part of the administration of the housing assistance payment scheme that some households' contribution to the cost of a private rental part funded by the local authority brings that family under the minimum income threshold; to review this as part of the review of housing issues; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17813/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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All households in receipt of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) pay a differential rent based on the rent scheme set by their local authority, meaning that the amount of rent a household pays to the local authority depends on their total household income. Under the HAP scheme, eligible households source their own accommodation in the private rented sector; this accommodation must be within the HAP rent limits, which are based on the size of the household and the rental market in the relevant local authority area.

While securing accommodation under HAP can be challenging in areas where there is a shortage of supply, the numbers of households securing accommodation nationally under HAP continues to rise, with an average to date in 2016 of in excess of 200 new tenancies being registered each week. The maximum rent limits for different household classes that apply in each local authority where HAP has been commenced are set out in regulations and are currently based on the rent supplement limits as set out by the Department of Social Protection (DSP). In prescribing these limits, household size and prevailing rents in the relevant areas are taken into consideration. My Department works closely with DSP and monitors data which it gathers, along with PRTB data, and data gathered through HAP pilot authorities, in relation to the rent limits applying.

In recognition of the need for additional discretion in areas of high rental demand, additional flexibility above the maximum rent limits that apply for the purposes of HAP has been provided in the administrative areas of Cork City Council, Cork County Council, Galway City Council, Galway City Council, Kildare County Council, Meath County Council and South Dublin County Council, and for the purposes of the Homeless HAP Pilot Scheme in the Dublin Region. This additional flexibility facilitates a greater number of qualifying households to source suitable accommodation in these local authority areas. The Programme for a Partnership Government commits to extending the capacity of local authorities to make such discretionary payments, while providing a framework for the review of both Rent Supplement and Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) limits taking account of geographic variations in market rents. My Department is working closely with the Department of Social Protection to ensure that any revised rent limits will be introduced as early as possible, subject to agreement by Government.