Patricia Ryan (Kildare South, Sinn Fein)
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203. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will standardise the HAP system to allow intercounty HAP transfers between all counties; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [2340/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The flexibility of HAP as a social housing support is one of the scheme's key characteristics and was one of the primary benefits envisaged at the outset of the scheme. With this in mind, Departmental circulars relating to inter-authority movement issued in 2017 and 2019, with the aim of facilitating movement of HAP households from one local authority area to another in cases where a HAP tenant wishes to access rented accommodation with HAP support in another local authority area. Inter authority movement is, however, subject to certain conditions, such as the Social Housing Income Eligibility Bands and confirmation that the applicant's income is below the threshold in the new local authority.

Given that the flexibility afforded by inter-authority movement facilitates better utilisation of all private rental stock for social housing purposes and supports the maximum activation potential of HAP households by removing geographical barriers to employment, all local authorities have been requested to give appropriate consideration to these requests.