Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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355. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of properties approved for HAP tenancies in breach of the minimum standards and fire safety set by the Residential Tenancies Board, since 2015. [11302/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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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 Housing Assistance Payment (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 as part of their overall private rented inspections programme.

The information requested in respect of the number of HAP properties inspected found to be non-compliant and the number followed-up subsequently is not specifically reported by local authorities to my Department.

Annual data in respect of all private rental inspections carried out by each local authority is available on my Department's website at www.gov.ie/en/publication/da3fe-private-housing-market-statistics/.

Peadar Tóibín (Meath West, Aontú)
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356. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government the number of single-person applicants for properties under the HAP scheme since 2015; the average waiting list for single-person applicants for properties under the HAP scheme since 2015; and the average tenancy duration for single-person applicants for properties under the HAP scheme since 2015, in tabular form. [11303/22]

Darragh O'Brien (Dublin Fingal, Fianna Fail)
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The Housing Assistance Payment (HAP) is a flexible and immediate form of social housing support for people with a long-term housing need. Any household assessed by their local authority as eligible for social housing is immediately eligible for HAP.

Under HAP, a tenant sources their own accommodation in the private rented market. The tenancy agreement is between the tenant and the landlord and is governed by the Residential Tenancies Act 2004, as amended. HAP supported tenancies are afforded the same protections as all private rented tenancies. On entering HAP, the tenant is required to stay in the same property for at least two years.

The table below shows the number of households who were in receipt of HAP support from 2017 to Q3 2021 and the number of single occupancy tenancies. The figures for single occupancy tenancies for 2015 and 2016 are not available.