Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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277. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government to provide the figures on increases under the housing assistance programme taking effect from 1 July 2016 by county in tabular form. [19778/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is currently available in 19 Local Authority areasand to homeless households in the Dublin local authority areas under the Homeless HAP pilot. There are currently more than 10,700 households being supported by the scheme. In order to set the HAP limits at informed, practical and appropriate levels my Department has worked closely with the Department of Social Protection during the recent review of rent supplement limits, and examined data gathered through the HAP Shared Service Centre (SSC) and related correspondence from local authorities.

With the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, I have set the maximum rent limits for different household classes that apply in each local authority where HAP has been commenced at levels that are generally identical to those for the rent supplement scheme set by the Minister for Social Protection. The ability of local authorities to meet housing need through the HAP scheme is being further enhanced by the extension of the discretionary ability of authorities to agree to payments that exceed rent limits by up to a maximum of 20%, where justified and required. The Homeless HAP pilot retains its previously defined enhanced flexibility to exceed the rent limits under the scheme.

The increased limits are available to local authorities in their determination of appropriate levels of support from 1 July 2016 and are listed in the following table: