Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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374. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the amount paid out by local authorities in HAP in each of the years 2015 to 2020, nationally and by local authority. [25707/21]

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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375. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of HAP tenancies in each of the years 2015 to 2020, nationally and by local authority. [25708/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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I propose to take Questions Nos. 374 and 375 together.

The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a flexible and immediate housing support that is available to all eligible households throughout the State. At end Q4 2020 there were nearly 60,000 households in receipt of HAP and over 33,520 separate landlords and agents providing accommodation to households supported by the scheme.

In respect of the provision of HAP funding, Limerick City and County Council provides a highly effective HAP transactional shared service on behalf of all local authorities.  This HAP Shared Services Centre (SSC) manages all HAP related rental transactions for the tenant, local authority and landlord.  Accordingly, my Department does not recoup individual local authorities in respect of HAP rental payments in their administrative areas but, rather, recoups all landlord costs via the HAP SSC.

Data in relation to the number of active HAP tenancies and funding provided by the State in 2019 and 2020, broken down by local authority area, can be found on my Department's website at this link:

This funding represents the portion paid by my Department after receipt of the differential rent which is paid by the tenant to the local authority. It does not include administration costs related to the Scheme.

The overall cost of supporting the HAP Scheme to the Exchequer for the period 2015-2020 is outlined in the table below:

The table below shows the number of households who were in receipt of HAP support from 2015 to 2018, broken down by local authority.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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376. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of households in receipt of private rent subsidies including HAP nationally and by county. [25709/21]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a form of social housing support for people who have a long-term housing need. In order for a household to qualify for HAP, they must first be assessed as eligible for social housing support by their local authority. Any household assessed as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP and those households must source their own accommodation in the private rental sector.

The table below shows the number of households at the end of 2020, broken down by local authority, who are in receipt of HAP support.

*The DRHE is operating the HAP Homeless Place Finder Service on behalf of the four Dublin local authorities.  

The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) has been an important contributor to social housing supply since its introduction in 2005 and has placed responsibility on local authorities to meet the accommodation needs of people in receipt of Rent Supplement for 18 months or longer, and who are assessed as having a long-term housing need.  RAS has provided a more structured, accommodation-based approach to the use of the private rented sector to meet long-term housing need, thereby eliminating dependence on temporary income support payments through Rent Supplement. The scheme is delivered by local authorities who source accommodation from both the private market and Approved Housing Bodies. 

Details of the number of households in the private market in receipt of the RAS scheme at end 2020, broken down by local authority, is set out in the table below:

RAS and HAP continue to be effective and secure forms of social housing support, and remain a significant part of the suite of social housing options currently available to those who are assessed as being in need of housing support.

Responsibility for the Rent Supplement Scheme falls within the remit of my colleague, the Minister for Social Protection.