Written answers

Friday, 7 September 2018

Department of Housing, Planning, and Local Government

Housing Assistance Payment

Photo of Richard Boyd BarrettRichard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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1400. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the full year cost of the HAP and RAS programmes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [36596/18]

Photo of Eoghan MurphyEoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme is funded through a combination of Exchequer monies and tenant differential rents collected in respect of HAP tenancies. The full rollout of HAP in all Local Authorities was completed in March 2017 and, therefore, 2018 will be the first full 12 month calendar year of operation. Budget 2018 provided Exchequer funding of €301 million which will provide ongoing financial support for the existing HAP households for whom tenancies were in place up to end 2017, and the additional 17,000 households targeted under Rebuilding Ireland to be supported by the HAP scheme in 2018.

The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) places responsibility on local authorities to meet the accommodation needs of people in receipt of Rent Supplement for 18 months or longer, and who are assessed as having a long-term housing need.  Data for the years 2011 to 2017 on the number and cost of tenancies funded under the RAS scheme, broken down by local authority, is available on my Department's website at the following link: .  The number of RAS tenancies in place at the end of 2017 was 19,756 and expenditure on the scheme in 2017 was just under €143m.  €134.338m has been allocated to RAS in 2018.

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