Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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157. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the protection measures in place for housing assistance payment, HAP, tenants should a landlord end their tenancy along the lines of the previous RAS scheme where local authorities were responsible to re-house tenants should a RAS landlord exit the scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [6214/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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A key principle of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is that eligible households source their own accommodation in the private rented sector, which best suits their needs in their area of choice. This is distinct from the Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) which is a different type of social housing support where the tenant may not always find their own accommodation and instead are allocated a dwelling in accordance with Section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009. Similarly, the local authority is not party to the tenancy agreement underpinning a HAP arrangement, but is a party to the three-part contract underpinning a RAS arrangement.

A HAP tenancy arrangement is governed by the terms of the Residential Tenancies Act 2004 (as amended) and is afforded the same protections available to all private rental tenancies, which were recently enhanced. The Residential Tenancies Board (RTB) was established as an independent statutory body under the Act to operate a national tenancy registration system and to resolve disputes between landlords and tenants.

There are more than 17,000 households supported by HAP currently and the scheme is working well for the households who are benefitting from the security of the long-term housing support that it offers.