Robert Troy (Longford-Westmeath, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

242. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if there are supports from his Department for a person who was in the process of buying a house until they were made redundant recently. [31474/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context | Oireachtas source

It is open to households who have difficulty in meeting their housing needs to apply to their local authority for social housing support. In order for a household to qualify for social housing support, a housing authority must carry out an assessment to establish whether the household meets specified eligibility requirements, including income eligibility requirements, and has a housing need, as defined in the Housing Acts.

Section 63(3) of the Local Government Act 2001 provides that, subject to law, a local authority is independent in the performance of its functions. Under section 6 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, the Minister is precluded from exercising any power or control in relation to any individual case with which a housing authority is or may be concerned. The assessment of applications for social housing support is solely a matter for housing authorities, having regard to the circumstances of the household concerned.