Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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227. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if an increase in rent allowance will be facilitated in the case of a person (details supplied); and if he will make a statement on the matter. [18516/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) will replace Rent Supplement (RS) for those with a long term housing need, who qualify for social housing support. However, RS will remain available through the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection (DEASP) to households as a short-term income support. The strategic aim is to complete the transfers from long term rent supplement to HAP by 2020, as outlined in the Rebuilding Ireland Action Plan for Housing and Homelessness. 

In order for a household to qualify for HAP, the household must first be assessed as eligible for social housing support by their local authority. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for the HAP scheme. It is a matter for the local authority to then examine the suite of social housing supports available, including the HAP scheme, to determine the most appropriate form of social housing support for that particular household, in the administrative area of that local authority. 

Each local authority has statutory discretion to agree to a HAP payment up to 20% above the prescribed maximum rent limit in circumstances where it is necessary, because of local rental market conditions, to secure appropriate accommodation for a household that requires it.  Greater enhanced support is also statutorily provided for in the Dublin Region for homeless households.

It is a matter for the local authority to determine if the application of the flexibility is warranted on a case by case basis. Local authorities must also be cognisant of the provisions  of the Residential Tenancies Act when approving increases in HAP payments and advise tenants accordingly.