Eoin Ó Broin (Dublin Mid West, Sinn Fein)
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605. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of homeless HAP tenancies created in 2017; the number of these used to prevent homelessness; and the number used to support persons and families to exit section 10 funded homeless accommodation. [17531/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Homeless HAP Place Finder Service operating in the Dublin local authorities, and in Cork City Council, is a targeted support for homeless households who are finding it difficult to secure HAP tenancies. The Place Finder Service has been successfully utilised by the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive (DRHE) across the Dublin local authorities since February 2015, with more than 2,000 households currently being supported by the Homeless HAP scheme. A similar service began operating in Cork City in 2017.

In order to further assist homeless households in exiting emergency accommodation, since January 2018, the Homeless HAP Place Finder Service can now be made available in each of the 31 local authority areas. All local authorities are now being provided with the options to pay deposits and advance rental payments for any households in emergency homeless accommodation, in order to secure accommodation via the HAP scheme.

To qualify for these specific additional supports available to homeless households, a household must have been determined by the relevant local authority to be homeless within the meaning of section 2 of the Housing Act 1988. The operation of local homeless services, including the Place Finder Service, is a matter for each local authority.

My Department collates quarterly regional performance reports from lead local authorities. These reports show that 1,997 individuals exited homelessness through Homeless HAP tenancies in 2017; of these, 1,171 secured their tenancies prior to entering emergency accommodation, and are therefore classified as preventative interventions, with the remaining 528 related to households exiting emergency accommodation.