Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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316. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of housing applicants currently in receipt of HAP or rent support; the extent to which progress is being made to meet their housing needs directly rather than through various support schemes; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3543/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) scheme plays a vital role in housing eligible families and individuals. At the end of Q3 2021, 97,600 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were more than 62,300 households actively in receipt of HAP support and over 33,600 separate landlords and agents providing accommodation to households supported by the scheme.

The Rental Accommodation Scheme (RAS) is also an important contributor to social housing supply. It places 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 the private market and Approved Housing Bodies. At the end of Quarter 3, 2021, there were 17,318 tenancies supported under RAS.

Legislation provides that both HAP and RAS are considered to be a form of social housing support. Households in receipt of HAP and RAS are therefore, not eligible to remain on the main housing waiting list. However, acknowledging that some households on the waiting list, who avail of HAP and RAS, have expectations that they would receive a more traditional form of social housing support, recipients can avail of a move to other forms of social housing through a transfer list.

Section 22 of the Housing (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009 requires all housing authorities, as a reserved function, to make an allocation scheme determining the order of priority to be accorded in the allocation of dwellings to households qualified for social housing support and to households approved for a transfer, the allocation of which would, in the opinion of the authority, meet the accommodation needs and requirements of the households.

The practical operation of transfer lists is, therefore, a matter for each local authority to manage, on the basis of their own scheme of letting priorities, and the number of persons on the housing transfer list is also a matter for each individual local authority.

The Housing for All strategy is the Government’s plan to increase the supply of housing to an average of 33,000 per year over the next decade. The annual targets include the delivery of 88,400 new social homes and 53,800 new affordable homes in the period 2022-2030. Housing for All is supported by an investment package of over €4bn per annum, through an overall combination of €12bn in direct Exchequer funding, €3.5bn in funding through the Land Development Agency (LDA) and €5bn funding through the Housing Finance Agency.

The projected number for new HAP tenancy set-ups in 2022 is 14,000. The projected number for new RAS tenancy set-ups in 2022 is 800. Projections for future years will be agreed on an annual basis as part of the normal Estimates process. However, as the numbers of new build social homes increases under Housing for All, there will be a reduced reliance on HAP and RAS.

Operation of the Rent Supplement Scheme is a matter for my colleague the Minister for Social Protection.