Written answers

Thursday, 7 December 2017

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Assistance Payment Administration

Photo of Mick WallaceMick Wallace (Wexford, Independent)
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35. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if his Department has conducted a cost-benefit analysis of the HAP scheme in its current form; if so, the details of the analysis; if he is satisfied the HAP scheme is helping to solve the housing crisis; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [52270/17]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a flexible and immediate housing support that is now available to all eligible households throughout the State. There are currently more than 30,000 households being supported by the scheme. On average, 350 new households are supported by HAP each week in 2017, and the Rebuilding Ireland 2017 target of supporting 15,000 additional households with the scheme has been exceeded.

The introduction of the HAP scheme was underpinned by an economic assessment, which was submitted to Government in 2013, and informed the Government’s decision to initiate the HAP scheme at that time. Although the HAP scheme was seen initially as being Exchequer neutral, external factors have impacted on this initial conclusion (in particular, the challenging state of the private rental market), and other benefits such as employment activation for HAP recipients, assistance with tax compliance of landlords for Revenue, improvement in private rental standards, better regulation of the private rental market, and reduction in local authority administration due to a central transactional shared service, should also be taken into consideration when looking at value for money.

It is important to recognise that in developing the HAP scheme, every effort has been made to provide similar levels of long-term support to other forms of social housing, while allowing for far greater flexibility of support, including a speed of access to the scheme that is as comparable to Rent Supplement. All parties to the administration of the scheme are committed to providing prospective HAP tenants with the capacity to compete for good quality, appropriate accommodation in the private market in an area they want to live in.

It should also be borne in mind that the HAP scheme was implemented on a statutory phased basis since 2014, and 2018 will be the first full year of operation in all local authority areas. The evidence of the success of the HAP scheme suggests that many households want what HAP offers them, i.e. flexible housing support with access to long-term options, at a rent that is based on their ability to pay, and the security of knowing that they can work full-time without losing their long-term housing support. HAP addresses many long standing issues raised by landlord groups and issues in relation to the operation of Rent Supplement.

As part of Budget 2017, Minister Donohoe announced that a review of day-to-day Government spending would take place in advance of Budget 2018. The 2017 Spending Review is the first in a series of rolling, selective reviews, which will cover the totality of Government spending over a three year period to 2019. As part of the Spending Review 2017, an analysis of the current expenditure on housing supports, including the HAP, was carried out by the Irish Government Evaluation and Economic Service (IGEES). A copy of this analysis can be found at the following link:

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Rebuilding Ireland is fundamentally based on blended delivery of social housing through a range of mechanisms and achieving the best value for money within the financial resources available to Government. A range of delivery mechanisms are operating in parallel and while it is recognised that an increased emphasis is now on building units, there are a considerable number of units available nationally for leasing and renting, both long and short term, which satisfy particular demand.

I continue to keep the operation of the HAP scheme under review but I am currently satisfied with how the 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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