Niamh Smyth (Cavan-Monaghan, Fianna Fail)
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56. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will address the perceived inadequacies with the new housing assistance payment scheme; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [1309/19]

Eoghan Murphy (Dublin Bay South, Fine Gael)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) provides fast, flexible housing support to all eligible households in their area of their choice. Individuals, who in the past were reluctant to avail of full time work as they would lose their Rent Supplement support, can now move to HAP and avail of full-time employment and retain their housing support, with an adjustment in their differential rent.

At the end of Q3 2018 there were more than 40,000 households having their housing needs met via HAP and over 25,000 landlords and agents in receipt of monthly HAP payments. As HAP is a social housing support and consequently households are not eligible to remain on the main housing waiting list, Ministerial directions have issued to ensure that, should they so choose, HAP recipients can avail of a move to other forms of social housing support through a transfer list.

Guidelines on inter-authority movement were introduced in 2017 to allow local authorities to facilitate movement of HAP households currently on one local authority's waiting list, who wish to access rented accommodation with HAP support in another local authority area, subject to conditions.

The Homeless HAP Place Finder Service provides all local authorities with the option to pay deposits and advance rental payments for any households in emergency homeless accommodation, in order to secure accommodation via the HAP Scheme. I continue to keep the operation of HAP under review but I am currently satisfied with how the scheme is operating.