Aodhán Ó Ríordáin (Dublin Bay North, Labour)
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258. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the breakdown of private rented accommodation HAP tenancies in 2018, 2019 and to date in 2020; the number of inspections in which further enforcement action was taken in tabular form; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [42674/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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At the end of Q3 2020, almost 83,000 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were more than 58,200 households actively in receipt of HAP support and over 32,000 separate landlords and agents providing accommodation to households supported by the scheme. The number of active HAP tenancies at end 2018, 2019 and at Q3 2020 are set out in the table below.

The minimum standards for rental accommodation are prescribed in the Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations 2019.  All landlords have a legal obligation to ensure that their rented properties comply with these Regulations. Responsibility for enforcement of the Regulations rests with the relevant local authority. 

The HAP scheme is underpinned by the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2014. Under section 41 of the 2014 Act, local authorities are required to commence the inspection process within 8 months of HAP support being provided in relation to a particular dwelling, if the dwelling was not already inspected within the previous 12 months. Local authorities carry out HAP inspections and any follow up actions as part of their overall private rented inspections programme and therefore the data requested is not held by my Department.