Richard Boyd Barrett (Dún Laoghaire, People Before Profit Alliance)
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249. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if a person at risk of becoming homeless and has been given a valid eviction notice is entitled to the homeless HAP rates; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [48458/18]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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In order to further assist homeless households in exiting emergency accommodation, the Homeless HAP Place Finder Service can, with effect from January 2018, be made available in each of the 31 local authorities. 

The focus of this scheme is to transition qualified households from emergency accommodation, including hotels, into private rented tenancies and the Place Finder service provides a dedicated resource that operates together with the established HAP delivery team in the local authority.

Since January 2018, all local authorities have been provided with the option to pay deposits and advance rental payments for any households in emergency homeless accommodation, or who are at immediate risk of entering emergency accommodation, in order to secure accommodation via the HAP Scheme. This means that every local authority is able to pay deposits and advance rental payment on behalf of homeless households in order to secure accommodation.  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.