Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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244. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will instruct Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council to grant a person (details supplied) early entry into the HAP scheme to prevent them from becoming homeless; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [35759/16]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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At present, 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 will be completed by 1 March 2017, with the introduction of HAP to the administrative areas of Dublin City Council, Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown and Fingal County Councils. A multi-agency HAP Implementation Dublin Working Group has been established to advise and prepare for the introduction of the scheme to the Dublin region based on experience of the roll-out to date, and the particular pressures and characteristics of the rental market in Dublin.

The Homeless 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. To qualify for HAP under the homeless pilot scheme, a household must generally be accepted as homeless within the meaning of section 2 of the Housing Act 1988 by one of the four Dublin local authorities. The Homeless HAP support has also been used to prevent households from entering homelessness and homeless services.

While eligible homeless households may source accommodation for themselves, a dedicated placement team, the Dublin Place-Finder Service, has also been established to engage directly with property-owners and support qualified households to find suitable tenancies and to ensure that any additional supports that may be needed are put in place.

The operation and allocation of social housing supports is a matter for the housing authority concerned and is one in which I, as Minister, have no role. If an applicant wishes to make an inquiry regarding social housing support or the HAP homeless pilot scheme they should contact the Housing Section of Dún Laoghaire- Rathdown County Council or the Dublin Region Homeless Executive directly.