Barry Cowen (Offaly, Fianna Fail)
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594. To ask the Minister for Employment Affairs and Social Protection to set out the number of persons in receipt of rent supplement that transferred to HAP per annum in each of the years 2013 to 2017 and to date in 2018; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [4163/18]

Regina Doherty (Meath East, Fine Gael)
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Rent supplement plays a vital role in housing families and individuals, with the scheme supporting approximately 34,400 recipients for which the Government has provided €180 million for in 2018.

The Deputy will be aware that the strategic policy direction of the Department is to return rent supplement to its original purpose of being a short-term income support with the introduction of the Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme on a statutory phased basis from September 2014.

The HAP scheme is available nationwide from 1 March 2017, and there are currently some 32,000 active HAP tenancy arrangements of which almost 9,000 are direct transfers from rent supplement. Analysis of recipient numbers transferring to HAP as of December 2014 to January 2018 is provided in the following tabular statement.

My Department continues to support the transfer of long term rent supplement tenancies to HAP with the strategic goal of returning rent supplement to its original purpose; a short-term income support for those who are temporarily unemployed.

I trust this clarifies the matter for the Deputy.

Tabular Statement

Rent Supplement: Rent Supplement tenancies transferred to HAPSource: Dept. of Housing, Planning and Local Government