Anne Rabbitte (Galway East, Fianna Fail)
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156. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, Community and Local Government when he plans to introduce the roll-out of choice-based letting in Galway county council; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [26174/17]

Simon Coveney (Cork South Central, Fine Gael)
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The allocation of social housing support is a matter for the relevant housing authority in accordance with the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and associated regulations. Section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 requires all housing authorities, as a reserved function, to make an allocation scheme determining the order of priority to be accorded in the allocation of dwellings to households qualified for social housing support and to households approved for a transfer, the allocation of which would, in the opinion of the authority, meet the accommodation needs and requirements of the households.

The Government’s Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness contains a commitment to extend the use of choice-based letting (CBL) by local authorities as a method of allocating social housing support. This is in recognition of the benefits that a CBL system can deliver to social housing applicants, existing social housing tenants and to local authorities.

On 30 September 2016, I made the Social Housing Allocation (Amendment) Regulations 2016 which required that all local authorities must, if they have not already done so, provide for CBL as a method of allocation in their housing allocation schemes by 31 December 2016.

I understand that a majority of local authorities have now used CBL as a way of allocating some of their social housing properties. Where it has been introduced, the feedback has been very positive both from the authorities themselves and the customers they serve.

To facilitate the wider operation of CBL my Department issued updated guidance to authorities in December 2016. The Department will continue to liaise with housing authorities with a view to ensuring that CBL is implemented as widely as possible across the country.