Sorca Clarke (Longford-Westmeath, Sinn Fein)
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321. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the social welfare incomes that are considered temporary when a local authority is assessing a persons' application for social housing. [44654/20]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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Applications for social housing support are assessed by the relevant local authority, in accordance with the eligibility and need criteria set down in section 20 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 and the associated Social Housing Assessment Regulations 2011, as amended.

The 2011 Regulations prescribe maximum net income limits for each local authority, in different bands according to the area concerned, with income being defined and assessed according to a standard Household Means Policy which is available at the following link:

Under the Household Means Policy, which applies in all local authorities, net income for social housing assessment is defined as gross household income less income tax, PRSI, Universal Social Charge and Pension-Related Deductions within the meaning of Financial Emergency Measures in the Public Interest Act 2009. Certain specific payments, as outlined in the Policy, are disregarded for the purposes of income assessment. Other than those payments listed, all income from social insurance and social assistance payments, allowances and benefits, is generally assessable. However, local authorities have discretion to disregard income that is temporary, short-term or once-off in nature.