Written answers

Thursday, 6 April 2017

Department of Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government

Housing Assistance Payments

Photo of Niamh SmythNiamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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41. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government if he will address the inadequacies with the new housing assistance payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [16800/17]

Photo of Simon CoveneySimon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) provides fast, flexible housing support to households in an area of their choice. Individuals with a housing need who in the past were reluctant to avail of full time work as they would lose their Rent Supplement support, can now move to HAP, avail of full-time work and retain their housing support.

HAP is now available nationwide to all eligible households in all local authority areas. HAP has been rolled out on a phased basis since September 2014 with 7 local authorities delivering the scheme initially, 11 more authorities added in 2015, 10 added in 2016 and the final 3 Dublin authorities providing HAP from 1 March 2017. The phased nature of the HAP roll-out has allowed for significant learning in the operation of the scheme. In this way, new HAP authorities have benefitted from the experience of those authorities where the scheme has been previously operational.At the end of Quarter 1 2017, there were more than 19,600 households being supported by the scheme. Some 300 additional households are currently having their housing need met each week by HAP, with a total of 3,765 HAP tenancies set-up in the first quarter of 2017.

As HAP is a social housing support and consequently households are not eligible to remain on the main housing waiting list, Ministerial directions have issued to ensure that, should they so choose, HAP recipients can avail of a move to other forms of social housing support through a transfer list. With the completion of the HAP roll-out and the ending of the scheme’s pilot phase, I recently signed a Ministerial Direction instructing local authorities to continue to offer HAP tenants access to other forms of social housing through the transfer list.

A new HAP website,www.hap.ie , was recently launched and provides prospective HAP tenants and landlords with the information that they need to better understand how HAP works. 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 committed to under Rebuilding Ireland.

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