Clare Daly (Dublin Fingal, Independent)
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20. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the cost per day of rent supplementation in the private housing sector across all housing assistance schemes (details supplied). [45293/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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There are currently some 50,000 households having their housing needs met via HAP and RAS, and some 40,000 landlords or agents currently in receipt of HAP and RAS payments. These schemes provide social housing support for households already living in the private rental sector and for households who require long-term assistance with their housing needs, by allowing them to increase their income without the risk of losing their housing support. Under Rent Supplement, these households would lose their housing support payment, therefore putting their housing security at risk. 

Rent Supplement continues to be paid by the Department of Social Protection to those who are already in the private rented sector but who, because of a short term change in their circumstances, such as loss of income through unemployment, require a short-term income support to pay their rent. These applicants would not generally require an assessment of housing need and the expectation would be that a return to employment would obviate the need for long-term support. Thus Rent Supplement would return to being a short-term income support, as originally intended. Rent Supplement is a matter for the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection.

My Department does not hold a per day breakdown of the costs of HAP and RAS due to variations in costs related to a variety of factors including contractual agreements, household size, and locations. However, a detailed breakdown of the annual cost of each scheme per year for both RAS and HAP is available on my Department's website. In summary, the average monthly payment to landlords under RAS, across all areas and all  household sizes, was just over €700 in 2016. In relation to HAP, the average monthly payment to landlords at end Q2 2017 was just under €690.