Violet-Anne Wynne (Clare, Sinn Fein)
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135. To ask the Minister for Housing, Planning, and Local Government if he will give consideration to increasing the rate of HAP in line with market rents; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [3704/23]

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 2022, over 106,700 HAP tenancies had been set-up since the scheme commenced, of which there were more than 59,700 households actively in receipt of HAP support.

Under Housing for All, my Department was tasked with undertaking an analytical exercise to examine whether the level of discretion available to Local Authorities under HAP was adequate. The Housing Agency carried out this analytical exercise, on behalf of my Department, to better understand what level of discretion should be made available to Local Authorities under HAP to maintain adequate levels of support.

Following receipt and analysis of this review, I, in cooperation with Government colleagues and the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform, approved an increase in the HAP discretion rate from 20% to 35% and for new tenancies to extend the couple’s rate to single person households. This will secure more tenancies and prevent new entries to homelessness. Both these measures came into effect from 11 July 2022.

A separate review of the discretion available to Homeless HAP tenancies in Dublin, which is up to 50% above the prescribed maximum rent limits, is currently being undertaken by my Department, in conjunction with The Housing Agency.