Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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249. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government the number of local authorities directed to prepare an assessment of applicants on the housing waiting list; the number of local authorities which have already completed this exercise. [23535/16]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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250. To ask the Minister for Environment, Community and Local Government when the next national survey of social housing waiting lists held by local authorities will be undertaken and when this will be published. [23536/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 249 and 250 together.

The Social Housing Strategy 2020 – Support, Supply and Reform, published in November 2014, included a commitment to undertake summaries of social housing assessments on an annual basis from 2016. Arrangements to carry out the 2016 summary, which will provide updated figures of national housing need later this year, are well advanced.

A suite of supporting documents was issued by my Department to housing authorities on 9 June 2016 which included a Direction to each housing authority to prepare a summary of the social housing assessments in its administrative area on 21 September 2016. Electronic data is to be submitted to the Local Government Management Agency by each authority on or before 12 October 2016. Detailed guidance has been prepared by the Housing Agency and provided to all authorities to support the Social Housing Assessment 2016 and my Department has also hosted two information sessions for housing authority staff. Following the submission of the data by housing authorities, the Housing Agency will prepare a final report setting out a Summary of the Social Housing Assessment 2016. It is expected that this will be completed by the end of the year.