Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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180. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the details on local authority transfer lists for HAP recipients; if the transfer lists that HAP recipients can apply to within two weeks of taking up the scheme are general transfer lists or HAP specific transfer lists; and if a HAP recipient who applies to a transfer list within two weeks of taking up the scheme will retain the same level of housing allocation priority on the transfer list as on the general social housing waiting list. [33298/16]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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181. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government his views on whether there is a problem with the homeless HAP whereby persons refuse the scheme due to the perception that they will lose their place on the social housing waiting list; and if his Department has undertaken any research regarding the perception of the homeless HAP scheme among potential candidates for the scheme. [33299/16]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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182. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of persons that have been offered the homeless HAP scheme who have refused to participate in the scheme to date. [33300/16]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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183. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the number of HAP recipients in each local authority in tabular form; and if he will provide a column showing the number of HAP recipients in full-time employment, in part-time employment, in training and who are unemployed. [33301/16]

Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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187. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if it is a statutory obligation on the part of local authorities to inform HAP recipients of the need to apply to the transfer list within two weeks of being taken onto the scheme in order to retain their position on the social housing waiting list under the HAP scheme; and if he is satisfied that local authorities are informing HAP recipients of this. [33305/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 180 to 183, inclusive, and 187 together.

The implementation of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is a key Government priority and the accelerated roll-out of the scheme on a national basis is an important early action for completion in the Government's Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness, Rebuilding Ireland. HAP is now available to all qualified households in 19 local authority areas, with over 14,500 households currently being supported by the scheme and 9,500 separate landlords and agents providing accommodation to those households. A breakdown of the number of households supported by HAP in each local authority area at the end of Quarter 3,2016 is available on my Department's website at the following link: .

As HAP is deemed to be a social housing support under the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009, households in receipt of HAP are not included on the local authority waiting list for social housing support. However, HAP recipients may access other forms of social housing supports by applying to go on the local authority transfer list.

On 16 December 2014, a statutory direction was issued to all authorities involved in the HAP statutory pilot, instructing them to take the necessary steps to ensure that households benefitting from HAP can avail of a move to other forms of social housing support, should they wish to do so, through a transfer option. Local authorities were also directed that HAP recipients, who apply to go on the transfer list, should get full credit for the time they spent on the waiting list and be placed on the transfer list with no less favourable terms than if they had remained on the waiting list. The practical operation of transfer lists in the context of the Ministerial direction is a matter for each local authority to manage, on the basis of their scheme of letting priorities. In general, housing authorities offer HAP recipients the opportunity to apply to go on the transfer list at the point when their HAP application is approved and the differential rent contribution is signed by the household. The 2 week period referred to is not a statutory period. I understand that it is a timeframe operated by local authorities for the purposes of receiving a reply to correspondence with HAP recipients. Local authorities and my Department are working closely together in order to ensure the successful implementation of the scheme and the Ministerial Directive relating to the operation of transfer lists, and I am satisfied that all local authorities are informing HAP applicants of the opportunity to apply to go on to the transfer list , as a matter of course. It is ultimately the choice of the HAP recipient to choose if they wish to be placed on a local authority's transfer list and I understand that the majority of HAP households do avail of this option. As of the start of November 2016, over 190 households across the country have transferred from the HAP scheme to other forms of social housing support.

The Homelessness Pilot of the HAP scheme has been operational since February 2015 across the four housing authorities in the Dublin Region, i.e. Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, Fingal County Council and South Dublin County Council, and is being implemented through the Dublin Region Homeless Executive (DRHE). The focus of this pilot scheme is to transition qualified households from emergency accommodation, including hotels, into private rented tenancies. There are currently 637 households being supported by the Homeless HAP pilot scheme across Dublin. At this point, the full HAP scheme is only available to all qualifying households in one of the four Dublin local authorities, South Dublin County Council. The full roll-out of the scheme to the remaining Dublin local authorities is planned for Q1, 2017.

Rebuilding Irelandcommits to meeting the housing needs of 1,750 homeless households through the Homeless Pilot of the HAP scheme over 2016 and 2017, as part of the overall accelerated HAP target of supporting 27,000 new households over the same period. As of 7 November, 586 tenancies had been set up under the pilot scheme this year, meeting the Rebuilding Irelandtarget of 550 homeless households to be supported by the scheme in 2016. My Department does not hold data on the number of persons that have been offered the homeless HAP scheme that have refused to participate in the scheme to date. The performance of the Homeless HAP scheme continues to improve with a doubling in the number of new households being supported by the scheme each week since the review of HAP rent limits in July of this year.

While I am happy with the improved performance under the scheme, I have asked my Department to continue to monitor it closely and engage directly with the relevant local authorities to ensure its effectiveness and its attractiveness to homeless households.

The data sought in relation to numbers of HAP- supported households in full time employment, in part time employment, in training and that are unemployed broken down by local authority is not held by my Department. My Department, local authorities and the HAP Shared Service Centre (SSC) - being provided by Limerick City and County Council - are working together to develop data collection and reporting mechanisms to provide robust indicators in relation to the activation objective of the HAP scheme. The development of these indicators is being overseen by the HAP Oversight Group that is jointly chaired by the Secretaries General of my Department and the Department of Social Protection.

My Department continues to keep the operation of the scheme under review. I am very satisfied with how the HAP scheme is operating and I consider it to be a key vehicle for meeting housing need and fulfilling the ambitious programme under Rebuilding Ireland.