Seán Haughey (Dublin Bay North, Fianna Fail)
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429. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government the actions he will take to promote the acceptance by landlords of the HAP scheme in order that they will be more inclined to accept tenants availing of this benefit; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13263/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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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 was an important early action for completion in the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness.

HAP is now available to all qualified households in 31 local authority areas, with over 19,000 households currently being supported by the scheme. A breakdown of the number of households supported by HAP in each local authority area at the end of December 2016 is available on my Department’s website at the following link: .

While the level of supply in some rental markets is challenging, the increased rent limits provided by the Government in July 2016, together with the additional discretion available to local authorities to exceed the maximum rent limit where it is necessary to secure suitable accommodation, are allowing households to find suitable accommodation and willing landlords. In excess of 300 additional tenancies are being supported by HAP each week, and there are now some 15,000 separate landlords and agents currently in receipt of monthly HAP payments.

My Department has engaged with the landlord sector since commencement of the scheme in September 2014. This has afforded the sector an opportunity to provide valuable feedback in relation to the operation of the HAP scheme and has, in turn with feedback from other sectors, helped to inform and shape the operation and implementation of the scheme into its next phase, i.e. a national scheme.

I have also recently launched a new HAP website, www.hap.ie,dedicated to providing prospective HAP tenants and landlords with the information that they need to better understand how HAP works. My Department continues to keep the operation of the HAP scheme under review, particularly in the Dublin area where the scheme has now been made available since 1 March 2017.

I am 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.