Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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517. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of HAP tenancies expected in Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council in timeframes (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48008/17]

Tommy Broughan (Dublin Bay North, Independent)
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518. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of RAS tenancies expected in Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council in timeframes (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48009/17]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 517 and 518 together.

There are currently some 50,000 households nationally having their housing needs met via the Housing Assistance Payment and Rental Accommodation Scheme, and some 40,000 landlords or agents 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. On average, 346 new households are supported by HAP each week, and the Rebuilding Ireland 2017 target of supporting 15,000 additional households with the scheme has already been exceeded.

The following table sets out the new households supported by HAP and RAS in 2017 based on the most recent data available. It also sets out the households supported by HAP each week on average in 2017. The equivalent HAP numbers for the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE), which operates the Homeless HAP scheme across all Dublin local authority areas including Dublin City and Fingal, are also provided.

*HAP became operational in DCC and Fingal on 1 March 2017.

Budget 2018 has increased the Exchequer funding for the HAP scheme by €149m to €301 million in order to meet the continuing costs of existing households and the costs of meeting the additional 17,000 households, targeted under Rebuilding Ireland, to be supported by HAP in 2018. The 2018 targets have been carefully projected and acknowledge the length of time the scheme has been established in each local authority, as well as the transfer of an increasing number of households from rent supplement to HAP. Current data indicates that around one third of new households receiving HAP for the first time have transferred from rent supplement. Overall, I expect this proportion to increase incrementally throughout 2018 and my Department will be working closely with local authorities and the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to ensure that this target is met. This will facilitate a greater number of households who are currently living in private rented accommodation to receive more secure support in meeting their housing costs,  and also allow them to increase their income without the risk of losing that support.

In 2018, funding of €134 million has been provided in order to support a further 600 new transfers under RAS and also to meet the ongoing cost of 19,900 households supported under the scheme. RAS remains an important social housing delivery mechanism; however the anticipated decreasing number of annual transfers from rent supplement to RAS is indicative of the increasing number of transfers from rent supplement to HAP.

I am satisfied with the operation and resourcing of HAP and RAS, and I am confident that the targets set under Rebuilding Ireland will be met.